Sorcery
by debugger315
Summary: Harry Potter is getting a new job - something down in the Department of Mysteries. But something has to go wrong; what else would happen to Harry Potter, self-proclaimed chew-toy for the fates.
1. Prologue

I own neither Harry Potter or Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p>"Your Majesty?"<p>

Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, sighed. Despite the Great Thaw (or perhaps, in part, because of it), she had become even more popular a monarch than she thought was possible.

"Yes, Kai?"

Kai was one of the few people who had been part of her life since she was 8 years old; when that terrible accident had happened.

"I have – news. You might recall being formally introduced to Bjarne, who was in charge of the castle security?"

The two weeks since her coronation day had seen countless people introduced to the new Queen, but Elsa had diligently attempted to note faces and names.

"Yes, of course. What is the matter – I know the broken wall was an issue, but I'm certain the ice will hold it up until a builder can be fixed."

Elsa's escape from her own dungeon had left a gaping hole in the castle, but she had conjured a temporary wall to hold it in place whilst replacing it was in progress.

"No, Your Majesty – though, your generous help is greatly appreciated. Bjarne, however, is ill. He has served since the time your father was a child, and is old. The healers worry that he will not last many more weeks, and refuse to allow him to continue his duties."

Elsa stopped still for a moment, horrified that she might have –

"They said he has been ill for a month now, but it has finally become to much to ignore. "

Elsa relaxed fractionally, relieve that it might not have been completely her fault.

"Your Majesty, no one blames you. No one."

"Kai, you have clearly known me too long if you can see through me so easily. Are you absolutely sure...?"

"Positive, ma'am. Bjarne's failing health has nothing to do with you. His duties need attending to, though."

"Is there any amongst the guards that know enough to do so?"

"No, Your Majesty – but, Bjarne does have a son, who helped him for the last couple weeks. He is currently visiting a nearby town, but I'm assured he should be back today or tomorrow."

"Very well. Please, tell me what you know about him – his name, first."

"He goes by Harry, ma'am."

* * *

><p>Life was an odd thing, Harry reflected to himself.<p>

Harry was give or take, 30 years old. He looked younger, but that was because he had a bit of a secret. Harry was a wizard. Not just any wizard, either. He was Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, The Man-Who-Won.

And here he was, trudging through the back alley in some village, in who knows what year, or even world. Harry Potter was a dimensional traveller. Admittedly, it wasn't by personal choice, but that was his lot in life – well, it was now.

How did this happen?


	2. Chapter 1

I own neither Harry Potter or Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

There are a few concepts I've used here that are likely to be familiar - With 600K+ Harry Potter stories, it becomes hard to come up with original ways of doing things in the HP universe. I apologies for any unintentional toe-stepping that occurs.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

_Life was an odd thing, Harry reflected to himself._

_Harry was give or take, 30 years old. He looked younger, but that was because he had a bit of a secret. Harry was a wizard. Not just any wizard, either. He was Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, The Man-Who-Won._

_And here he was, trudging through the back alley in some village, in who knows what year, or even world. Harry Potter was a dimensional traveller. Admittedly, it wasn't by personal choice, but that was his lot in life – well, it was now._

_How did this happen?_

* * *

><p>23 July 1998<p>

Harry had defeated Voldemort at 17 years old, and for a brief time his life had improved. He, Ron and Hermione were no longer hunted by their government, and had gone about trying to help the Wizarding World rebuild, to heal some of the damage left by Voldemort's brief reign.

Before too long, though, Unspeakables had come to the Trio to try and extract details on, well, anything Dark Lord related. How did he survive, what ritual did he resurrect himself with, what happened between Harry and the Dark Lord in the forest – they were inexhaustible. Harry finally consented to answering some of them – behind the strongest wards he could come up with.

The Unspeakables agreed, and had asked Harry down to The Department of Mysteries for their 'discussion' (read: interrogation). This, of course, is where things started to get interesting. Upon arriving, the Unspeakables sat him down, and informed Harry that this was not only a discussion, but also an interview.

A job interview.

"Hang on just a mintu-"

"Mr Potter, please. Allow me to explain; my name is Croaker, and I am one of the few 'Public' Unspeakables. The outside wizarding world knows little of what goes on in here – you more than most, I suspect. We have been most impressed with your work thwarting Voldemort, and would like to hire you."

Croaker folded his arms carefully, watching Harry through his darkened hood. Harry, though, looked utterly confused.

"But- don't you lot do research, and experiments in magic? Not that I don't appreciate your opinion, but Hermione's always been better at the obscure than I."

"Mr Potter, you are aware of Aurors and Hit-Wizards, no?" Seeing Harry's nod, he continued. "The are, to make a muggle comparison, the 'police force' of the Wizards. Yes, they are well-trained, but as you and everyone saw, hardly a threat on a military scale. Here in the Department of Mysteries, we extensively train teams for... unusual operations. If it makes it easier, we are a more secretive version of England's 'Special Forces'. This is why we are speaking to you – although, Ms Grangers prodigious skill has been noted by our department."

"You want me to work for you as an - an assassin?!" Harry blurted, horrified and outraged.

Croaker grimly smiled. "That is certainly one of the jobs these teams field, but I doubt you would suit such a position at your age. In any case, you wouldn't have to decide until you finished the first part of your training."

"I – I see. Uh, I'm not sure I –"

"How about we come back to this discussion after we talk about Voldemort?"

"Sure, great." Harry gratefully took the out, and began to talk about what basically amounted to his life so far.

Several hours later…

"You broke the Elder Wand? You're absolutely sure?" Croaker had an odd lilt to his voice as he asked.

"Yes, I'm quite sure" Harry snapped. He was tired, and had spent hours forcing himself to recall painful memories, only to be prodded for more details. "I deliberately snapped it so that it's power – not it's magical power, but the power to push men to murder for it would be gone."

"Of course." Croaker was still speaking stiltedly. "Pity, though."

"Well, if that's all, I might head back home!" Harry said, looking forward to eating something hot – especially this deep in the ministry, warming charms only went so far in an English winter.

"Mr Potter, I will expect your reply to our offer soon, so consider it carefully. The training is exceptional – you would not have known, but our forces did as much damage to Voldemort's cause as we could – only our oaths to the ministry prevented more being done."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." Harry muttered as he shouldered his way through the door being opened for him, and stormed out of the DoM.

Harry brusquely strode through the Ministry Atrium, forcing a smile for the witches and wizards that happened to turn and see their hero. Inside he was yelling for them to move, but only the occasional pleasantry was actually heard. As soon as Harry found an apparition point, he turned ever so slightly, and popped into existence on the steps of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

"Harry? Is that you – we were expecting you back a while ago." Hermione found him almost as soon as he entered the house – and immediately noticed his unhappy mood.

"What happened Harry – I thought –"

"It was just a long session, Hermione, nothing to be worried about." Harry said, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Hmph. Well, I know that 'I'm fine' is your code word for leave me be. If you need me, I'll be with Ron in the kitchen – I think he's going to try cooking again."

Coming down to dinner, Harry had already done lot of grumpy thinking, cursing the Unspeakables that lurked in the bottom of the Ministry.

"Joining the living, eh mate?" Ron was far too cheery for Harry, but he supposed Ron hadn't spent the day dealing with ministry wizards.

"Ron, leave him be! Heaven knows you've had your moods too." Hermione said primly.

Ron grimaced, and Harry snorted.

"Oi, let's not make this about me, hey?"

"It's alright, Hermione. You guys by now generally know when not to push. Besides, I wanted to tell you about what got me in this mood, anyway." Harry gratefully accepted a bowl of what he thought was stew from Ron. "What's this, then?"

"Just one of Mum's simpler recipes – ever since she heard about us not being able to cook much out camping, she's been on about me learning to look after myself more." Harry winced, that couldn't have been a fun argument. And it was Ron and work – there would have been an argument.

"It's fine, Harry – I had a taste before he started serving it up." Harry chuckled at Ron's offended look, before digging into his dinner.

As dinner progressed, Harry recounted his afternoon at the ministry, trying not to express his irritation with Croaker too much.

"So, what they're basically offering you is the chance to get some heavy training in magic, which they really don't seem to offer around that much?" Hermione had a look on her face, and combined with her tone, was telling Harry she thought he was upset about something he shouldn't be.

"Yeah, basically, but-"

"But what? Extra fighting training – I wish they would take me too!" Ron exclaimed, clearly excited on Harry's behalf.

"But hang on-"

"Hang on what? Sure, they didn't exactly present the idea in the nicest way, but Harry; Special Forces work in unconventional battle, high-risk stuff. And unconventional is how you've lots of things – I mean, please, stabbing a basilisk? Storming the ministry as 15 year olds, with only 5 others to back you up? Imagine if you had some actual training to back you up!"

"I still don't like what he said about oaths to the ministry – I mean, come on, I haven't liked any of the previous 3 ministers – Fudge, Scrimgeour, Thicknesse. Imagine if any of them had me oath bound!"

"But imagine how wicked it would be to have all that training!" Ron interjected.

"Harry, you should ask about it – send them an owl and ask for a copy of the oath, and, and a description of the jobs the training could prepare you for! You said you didn't want to be an assassin – which I totally agree with, bad idea – but what other things could you do? Just, think about it before you say no."

"I know, Hermione. It's just; again, I didn't do things the normal way. I haven't even graduated from Hogwarts yet!" Harry was starting to think the job might even be good for him. After living in the outside world for a year, Harry wasn't sure he even wanted to go back to Hogwarts; essays and grades didn't seem as important after chasing pieces of Voldemort around the country, and being in mortal peril day in and day out.

"Look mate – you guys are just going to argue and argue unless you drop it for a bit. Annnd, I'd rather not have you lot shouting at each other, because the Cannons match is being repeated on the radio tonight!" Ron clapped his hands, and promptly moved out of the room to get radio, as if it would solve everything.

"Sorry Hermione – You're right, I'll have a think about it, and ask Croaker some questions. At least if I take the job, I won't be hanging around all the time. Got to do something with my life. " Harry sighed. "I suppose I just thought I'd end up being an Auror."

"I'm sorry for pushing, Harry – it just seems like such a good opportunity, and –"

"You're starting to babble, Hermione." Harry grinned, "It's all good. I'm gonna head for bed, though. Say, how did you manage to let Kreacher let Ron cook?"

"Ah, that was Ron – he said that Mrs Weasley wanted a night off cooking and cleaning. And with the twins over distracting her, it was probably too late to stop him by the time she noticed." Hermione was reluctantly smiling, SPEW ideals still showing.

"Oh. Well, don't let me be around when she Floos over to give Ron a piece of her mind. Goodnight! Night Ron!" Harry hollered out towards the drawing room.

Harry only caught a muffled "Night!" back, but he was already half way up the stairs by that point.

* * *

><p>29 July 1998<p>

Harry had, over a week of letter writing, talking with his friends and thinking, decided that despite his crotchety manner, going back to Unspeakable Croaker was probably going to be an opportunity to take.

The oath, reflecting the recent havoc that ministry had undergone, had changed somewhat – it certainly allowed a lot more leeway than the previous. Hermione had taken the letter from Harry before he could even read it too her, and had spent an hour pouring over a legal dictionary she borrowed from her parents.

Harry had also decided that (assuming he survived the training), that while being an assassin wasn't his cup of tea, being a heavy-hitter on call was a much better option. No overly complex plots, and less politics and intrigue. Of course, it was more complicated than that, as he got basic training on everything, but it was a start.

So here he was, riding the clanking, noisy elevator to the Department of Mysteries – he was meeting with Croaker to confirm his decision in person.

As the doors creaked open to reveal Level 9, Harry shivered – the empty hall reminded him far too much of his disastrous quest here a couple years ago. He headed straight out only paused for a half-moment before opening the door to the Department of Mysteries. He sighed as the circular room span, and yelled for Croaker.

"Oi! Croaker – shut this damn room off, would you?!"

"I see you're enjoying our entrance room. Perhaps we should move on, though?"

Harry started, not having seen Croaker enter the room.

"Where'd you come from, then?"

"Not to worry – I suspect I'll be explaining that soon enough. Just through this door!" Croaker seemed to be in a much better mood, and was practically bouncing through the offices that Harry distinctly didn't remember from his last trip here – especially considering some of them were occupied. From there, they entered what must have been Croaker's office – it was a bit bigger and nicer looking, but still retained the same look as the others Harry had had a chance to glance at.

The desk was fairly large, completely bare except for a single quill and inkpot. There were two bookcases opposite either side of the desk, comfortably full of books that really looked quite ordinary – even some muggle books! None of the strange knick-knacks that had inhabited Dumbledore's office, though a Foe glass was clearly on the wall – none of the people in it were clear, though.

"So, Mr Potter – shall we sit down and do some paperwork? As a trainee, you don't have to sign as many confidentiality agreements as a full operative – you'll only have knowledge of the training program. Also, that oath to the ministry – with permission from the minister, we've decided that even with the amendments we have made, in your case we might waive it until you officially join the Department of Mysteries."

"This isn't official?" Harry asked, slightly confused. "You said –"

"Yes, well – it is everything but official. It just means you don't show up on the Ministry payroll – we have a budget allocated specifically for this, so don't worry about that."

"Not that I'd need to…" Harry muttered, but Croaker continued over the top of him.

"So, really, all that needs to be done is sign this –" He placed a piece of parchment in front of Harry, "And then get you kitted out and off to training!"

"Already?!" Harry asked, reading over the contract. "I – I thought you might need time to set this all up, and I remember you said training took a years – I don't suppose you'd be able to let me turn 18 before knocking out the next few years of my life?"

"Mr Potter, we're perfectly happy to let you have the 3 days of and around your birthday, but we'll start training this morning – I have an owl so you can let anyone you need to that you'll be busy until tomorrow morning – then you can have 3 days off, and you'll be back to finish your training." Croaker handed Harry his quill, and left to grab said owl.

Despite Hermione's helpful lessons on decoding legalese, it still took Harry 5 minutes to finish confirming that the contract read what he expected it to say, and was no more that a fairly standard secrecy contract.

Feeling his heart pounding, Harry signed the contract, and quickly jotted a note for Hermione and Ron, just as the older man walked back in with an owl.

"Thanks, it's just the one note." Harry said, tying it to the owl's leg. "They're in Grimmauld Place, alright?"

The small brown owl (bigger than Pig, but still small) bobbed its head, hooting its acknowledgment before taking wing back out the door.

"Ah excellent, Mr Potter. Right then – this way." Croaker said, leading Harry back out into the circular room.

"All you need to do to get to a specific room is call your name and the name of the room. As an employee, this room will now respond to you. For example – Croaker, Death Chamber." The room span violently, before abruptly halting, and a door sprang open to Harry's left. Inside, he could see the awful looking stone arch – whispering just out of range to be heard.

"Mr Potter – ignore the whispers – perhaps you could take us to the Time Room?" Harry started, having been distracted by the whispers.

"Sorry, yeah, sure. Potter, Time Room" Again, a violent spin later, and the door directly in front of Harry opened up, showing them the long, narrow room that Harry recalled.

"Newbie, Croaker?" There was only one person in this room, and he looked up as soon as the two entered. "Side room is all ready for you to go."

"Thanks, Crawford. We'll be back tomorrow, maybe around 7am."

"What? 7am?! How long is this bloody training session?" Harry demanded.

Both Unspeakables chuckled, and Crawford responded, "It'll be the longest night of you life, kid."

Harry didn't like the sound of that.

As it turned out, the 'side room' was bloody enormous – it was basically a manor house, with bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, living areas and a equally large basement that was entirely empty – it must have been 20 metres across, perfectly circular, and really deep – probably a good 10 metre gap from roof to floor.

"What the hell is this place?"

"This, Mr Potter, is a wing of the Department of Mysteries that can undergo Time Compression – time will run faster inside this wing than in the outside world. For the day that we spend in there, we will experience 20 months. That is, for every hour experienced out there, we will have lived in here for a month."

"What the- how in hell?!" Harry spluttered.

"Surely you have experience with the Impedimenta jinx, Mr Potter? If I jinxed with it, to me, you would slow down, but to you, the world would speed up! This is much the same, simply in reverse, and applied as a ward – a ward that we have applied to this wing of the Department."

"So, when you said that my training would take several years, you meant that I'd be ready in a few days?!" Harry asked, shocked at how much could be done in such a short time.

"Yes – it is actually a fairly simple procedure. We are hardly the only group to use such a system, but our location above the ley lines the Ministry was built upon allows us to draw much more magic to help power this ward. Only at Hogwarts would you get a larger source."

"I still can't believe -!"

"Mr Potter, we've got nearly 2 years for you to work this out in your head. Really, if I didn't know you were smarter than this, I'd be having second thoughts."

"Right, right, ok. Well, I suppose I'll duck home quickly and pack.. Uh, everything and come back?" Harry realised that spending 2 years with only what he had on him would be… interesting to say the least, and was starting to get excited about training.

"Not to worry – I took the liberty of arranging everything. What you have in here will suffice for your training. Everything we have for you – clothes, training gear, books – even a broom, if you want to take a spin around the basement, has all been purchased with this stay in mind. It'll be a long time, but you won't have time to be bored. That I promise you, Mr Potter."

With those ominous words, what sounded like a gong rang throughout the wing, and the door started glowing a soft blue.

They were trapped here for the next 20 months. Nothing but training.

Harry grinned to himself – bring it on.


	3. Chapter 2

I own neither Harry Potter or Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

30 July 1998

Time Compression is an interesting magical phenomenon – you age much more than you normally would in a given period of time, which causes all kinds of confusion.

For example – do you reflect time spent in TC in legal matters? If you age an extra year, is that noted by the government? Do you officially become an extra year older? Even worse, if you spent a year and a half in there, does your birthday move half a year?

When Time magic first came into being in the Department of Mysteries, the witches and wizards had to figure many of these (and more) questions out. And, considering how the world works on paperwork, the decision was made that only 'real' time would be counted.

For Harry, this meant that despite having entered the TC a mere 2 days before his 18th birthday, he ended up waiting 20 months to turn 18 – and what a 20 months they were. Undergoing Unspeakable training was long and hard work; it was a rare night that Harry didn't collapse into his bed, tired beyond comprehension.

Croaker was nothing like any teacher he had had before; he was strict, caustic, patient, thorough and absolutely brilliant – he pushed Harry almost to breaking point, and knew exactly how to let off enough pressure for Harry to recover.

Before the first day of TC was over, Harry had started to hate Croaker. By a month in, Harry was certain that he was undergoing systematic and brutal torture, all in the name of 'learning'. 6 months into his training, Harry was ready to quit; his brain felt like it was leaking out, and his body didn't seem to recall a time when it wasn't sore.

But Harry had learnt a few things about stubbornness over his time at Hogwarts; so he persevered. After the first year, Harry was almost unrecognizable; his hair was now longer, and less violently messy. He had filled out too. The hard work and better eating had given him a much stronger body than a year's camping in the wild. No amount of training would repair the damage that his years at the Dursley's. Harry would never quite be tall; but he no longer look at all emaciated, or underfed.

Spending well over a year in brutal training had also helped improve Harry's self-confidence; Croaker was never generous with compliments, but gave them sincerely when he did.

Physical and mental training were, of course, not all that Harry underwent – it was just the basis for his magical training.

By 7am the next morning, Croaker was certain that Harry had reached a level equivalent to a graduate of the Auror Training Academy. Despite all this training, it was clear to Harry that his tutor was still leagues above him, in technical ability at least.

Fortunately for Harry, being 'marked' as equal to a Dark Lord meant that somewhere along the way, he grown into his magical potential – which was quite a bit. All this power had given Harry a lot of trouble in the beginning of his training; it needed more focus to wield precise enchantments and delicate transfiguration.

All in all, as Harry and Croaker stepped out of the wing that had held them for the last 20 hours – or months, depending on the point of view – it was a changed duo.

* * *

><p>31 July 1998<p>

Harry started as the grandfather clock in his room rang out Westminster Quarters for midnight, and just before rolling over — he felt it.

It was like the pressure in his room was increasing, and the air becoming thicker; had it been a muggle movie sulphur would undoubtedly make an appearance. Despite all this, Harry's training kicked in; he grabbed his wand and was bunkered down behind the flipped desk in a corner with a shield lightly glowing over it all.

His breathing quickened as the feeling of impending magic soared – 2 days ago Harry barely would have been able to sense anything, but now it was like a gong ringing continuously to his erratic heartbeat – any moment now, something was going to happen.

'Pop!'

Harry blinked spots out of his eyes; a white flash had gone off directly in front of him, right where his shield and desk did him no help. But when the quiet noise had gone off, all the energy that had been gathering had dispersed; leaving Harry none the wiser as to what had happened. He flicked his wand, throwing out a general detection charm − nothing appeared to be different.

Harry waved his wand again, putting right his desk and everything that had been on it. With a quick detection charm out the hallway, Harry decided that whatever had happened was over, and there seemed to be nothing left for all the effort he went to try and protect himself.

He was asleep not long after he hit the bed.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Harry almost thought what had happened during the night was a dream; he resolved to ask Ron and Hermione if they had noticed anything out of the ordinary. Odd things were a staple for his birthday though, so he shouldn't be too surpr-!<p>

"It's my birthday!" Harry exclaimed, trying to jump out of his bed. Unfortunately, his legs got tangled on the way out, and only the top half of him made it too the floor. Wizards are made of tougher stuff than muggles, though, so it barely fazed Harry as he unfurled himself from his bedding. He also did a better job of summoning his glasses than the year prior as he darted out his door towards the kitchen.

"Morning, you lot! How are we on this fine, fine day?" Harry grinned as he pushed into the kitchen where Ron and Hermione were clearly still in the process of waking up.

"Someone's too bloody happy for 8 in the morning." Ron grumbled, attempting a glare at Harry, who ignored him easily.

"Shush, Ron. Besides, it's about time the baby of the group caught up." Hermione smiled at Harry, who frowned gently at being called 'baby'.

"Hmph. See if I ever help you two again."

"Fine, fine. Happy birthday, Harry. How's it feel to be 18?" Ron drained the rest of his coffee, shuddered and finished throwing off the call of sleep.

"Eh, feels not that much different from yesterday. Well, actually – did you guys notice anything happen around midnight? I woke up and felt, uh, something. It was like a ward was being set, or a really strong spell, or something. But when it seemed to hit it's apex, or peak all that happened was a white flash. I had a look around, but I couldn't see anything or pick anything up with a detection charm."

"Really?" Ron and Hermione both looked interested, but confused. "I slept through the night like a log; what about you, 'Mione?"

"Ron! Really, my name isn't that hard. But no, Harry, sorry. I was awake at about 2am, but only for a minute or two and I didn't notice anything. How odd… and you say it happened at midnight, as in, exactly?"

"Yeah, I woke up as the clock was going off. Well, if you guys didn't notice anything, it can't have been too big of a thing. I'll take another look around after breakfast, though, just to be sure." Harry said.

"Say, what's for breakfast, anyway?"

'POP!'

"Kreacher wishes Master a most happy birthday, and has anything the Master wishes for breaking fast." Kreacher popped in, bowing so low that his nose was touching the floor.

"Kreacher, I've told you you're allowed to call me Harry. Or even Sir." Harry said exasperatedly. It had been an uphill battle for Harry to even get Kreacher to wear something that wasn't filthy old rags; he was still working on how the old house-elf addressed him.

"Beggings Master's pardon, but it isn't _proper_! Kreacher could never not call the Master Master!" Kreacher looked horrified at the thought, so Harry let it drop – again.

"Alright, Kreacher. We'll talk about this again, though." Harry sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere quickly. "May I have some eggs and bacon on toast for breakfast?"

"Of course, Master." A snap of Kreacher's long, thin fingers later and a huge plate of food appeared in front of Harry.

"Thanks, Kreacher." Harry dove in, enjoying Kreacher's cooking.

"Kreacher can now get foods for Master Wheezy and Mistress Grangy."

"Finally!" Ron grumbled. "I'll have same as Harry, but with sausages and hash browns."

Harry quirked an eyebrow at Hermione, who was stifling giggles at Ron as Kreacher retrieved Ron's food.

"What?! I tried asking when I got up, but all I got was 'Master Wheezey musts be waiting for Master to eat'."

"Of course he's going to do that – it's Harry's birthday!" Hermione shook her head at Ron, who ignored her remonstrations in favour of digging into the hearty platter of food that had just appeared in front of him.

"Mistress Grangy?"

"I'll take the same as I had yesterday Kreacher, thank you. You do wonderful work." Hermione said.

Silence (well, except for Ron) reigned for a time as all three ate, quietly thinking. Harry was still somewhat in training mode, bar the sleep-in he had had that morning, and was working out a jog that he could take once his food had settled – he actually didn't really have anything planned. Before he could start on another train of thought, Hermione looked up suddenly.

"Oh Harry, whilst you were at the ministry yesterday, a letter came for you from the DMLE. I left it with Kreacher, but forgot to mention it last night."

'Pop!' Without extra prompting, the letter in question appeared on the table next to Harry.

_Mr Potter,_

_It has been noted by several ministry employees (including the Minister for Magic) that you have aspired to become an Auror for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement._

_If you should have some free time over the next week, I would be delighted to meet with you and discuss entrance requirements and how Auror training works._

_Given the events of the past year, we have set up an intensive bridging course for those who missed out on some or all of their final year of education due to the war; you would of course be eligible. There is also the option to test out of this course for those who believe they may have sufficient skill to do so._

_Many thanks, and a very Happy Birthday on Sunday,_

_Hamish Proudfoot_

_Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

"Oh dear. Another job offer." Hermione said, having read the letter that Harry had silently offered up.

"Where's this one at, then?" Ron asked as he mopped his plate with a piece of bread.

"Auror training – they couldn't have asked a week ago, could they now? No, it has to be just after I sign myself onto something else." Harry continued grumbling under his breath until Hermione glared at him.

"What? What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, you'll have to tell them no, mate." Ron said. "Unless you're gonna drop the Department of Mysteries for them."

"Of course he won't! Harry's already told us how much extra training he's going to get with the Unspeakables; Aurors would be a step back. Right Harry?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Harry sighed. He was enjoying his training; he supposed it was just a whimsical part of him that remembered making the last minute decision in McGonagall's office to attempt becoming an Auror. Looking back though, he thought he might have been slightly influenced by the idea of spiting Umbridge.

"Well, I'll tell you what; I've got nothing planned until we're heading to the Burrow for dinner, so I might head in and quickly clear this up a bit later." Harry said, figuring it was probably better to get what would undoubtedly be an awkward conversation out of the way. "I'm heading up for a shower, I'll be back later."

"Alright mate; we'll be floating around. Hey, Hermione. Didn't you have some thing you wanted to talk to Madam Marchbanks about?" Ron asked, and then looked over at Harry. "She wants to take her exams early, or something crazy!"

Harry grinned as Hermione huffed at Ron's comments on her study habits.

"Ron! NEWTs are very important – they greatly impact how you do in your career, and even what -"

"Cool down, Hermione, he's just pulling your leg." Harry said, seeing Hermione building up to a rant. Ron did get a whack for his fun, though.

"Fine. Be uneducated." Harry and Ron chuckled as Hermione pouted. "Hmph."

"Well, like I said – shower. If you lot want to come to the Ministry, I'll probably leave in an hour or so. Say, did Kreacher have any mail for me? I know he doesn't like owls swooping around everywhere…"

'Pop!'

"Kreacher has put Masters letters and parcels on his desk, he has." Kreacher announced quietly before disappearing with another 'Pop!'

"Right, thanks Kreacher." Harry said.

* * *

><p>Harry shook his head, flicking water over room as he started looking for clothes. Finding a casual set of robes, he donned them quickly; there were letters he wanted to see.<p>

There were cards from Kingsley, Professor McGonagall, Ron and Hermione, the Weasleys, Luna and Neville, and a number of other people he had more than a brief acquaintance with.

Finishing with the cards, Harry piled them nicely, and opened up the top drawer in his desk. Putting them in, his hand encountered something soft and silky.

"Wha-? Oh." Harry had left his invisibility cloak in his desk for safekeeping and gone and forgotten about it. Setting the pile of letters and cards back on his desk, Harry pulled out the invisibility cloak, intending to put it somewhere else.

Turning around, Harry started moving towards his old school trunk when he heard a clatter and thud. Harry froze; he hadn't left anything wrapped in his cloak. He looked down and swore.

Sitting on the floor were two objects he had thought to never see again – the Elder wand and the Resurrection Stone.

* * *

><p>AN: Only one more chapter till we wrap up the Harry Potter universe.<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

This is the final chapter set in the Harry Potter universe - it may have been a long introduction, but the scene is now set.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

_Sitting on the floor were two objects he had thought to never see again – the Elder wand and the Resurrection Stone._

31 July 1998

Harry swore again; damn it these two bloody things were supposed gone! One broken and the other lost in a forest. How blazes had they managed to appear in his room, intact?!

Harry picked up the two items – really, items gifted to 3 men by Death himself? He snorted, a mixture of angry, amused and confused at the proclivity of the average wizard to believe the stupid. He supposed that having magic allowed a bit of leeway for imagination, but the gullibility that some wizards showed was crazy! All they needed was someone of authority to say something, and it became true all of a sudden.

Harry pocketed the Elder Wand and Resurrection Stone, and called Kreacher.

"Kreacher is here, Master. What can Kreacher be doing for yous?"

"Can you tell Ron and Hermione I'll be back in 10 minutes, and I'll be ready to go then. I just a small errand to… dispose of something."

"Yes Master – Kreacher will pass on your message." 'Pop!'

Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, threw it over his shoulders and with the same movement, punched through the wards on 12 Grimmauld Place.

With a quiet 'crack!' Harry appeared next to the River Thames. A man not much further up the bank glanced around, but didn't see Harry under his cloak. Harry pulled out the Stone and tossed it as far into the muddy river as he could, before disappearing again.

Landing heavily this time, Harry stumbled. This time, the empty Scottish moor held nothing but the small village of Dores, and the Loch Ness. Harry drew the Elder wand, and held it up to the light. He couldn't find any sign of being broken before, and it flexed happily without cracking. Hoping that it would work, Harry snapped it again, flinging one half in the famous Loch. It could keep the Kelpie that lived there company for all Harry cared. Once again, Harry turned and apparated away.

For the last time, Harry appeared on a mostly unfamiliar landscape. This time the view that greeted him was the banks of the Loch Loyal. He withdrew the last piece of the Elder wand, and pitched it into the deep. He sighed, hoping that he would never again lay eyes on the blasted Wand and Stone again. Harry took a deep breath and sighed once more, focusing on letting go of his irritation; it wouldn't do to spend the rest of today in a funk. Harry turned, and reappeared in his bedroom, once again punching through his wards instead of going around them.

"Kreacher!" Harry called out, sitting down on the edge of his bed to catch his breath. North Scotland was a long ways away – 800km or so.

'Pop!'

"Yes Master?" Kreacher asked, bowing.

"Could you fetch me an invigoration draught? Here –" Harry reached into his money pouch and pulled out several galleons, passing to the house-elf. "Use this to pay."

"Yes Master, of course. Kreacher will be fast!" Kreacher left with a 'Pop!'

Harry sagged back onto his bed; that had taken more out of him than he thought it had. Of course, his impatience had once again hindered him. Pushing through the Anti-Apparition wards (a trick he had learnt from Croaker) was foolish, but Harry hadn't wanted there to be a chance of Ron and Hermione finding out about the Hallows returning. History had shown exactly how dangerous they were, and even the slightest rumour that Harry had collected them wouldn't be good.

'Pop!'

"Kreacher has Master's potion here!" Kreacher exclaimed, holding out the vial to Harry. Taking it Harry swigged it down in one gulp before grimacing at the taste. Taking the vial back, Harry accepted the change from Kreacher. He was already starting to feel better.

"Thank you Kreacher. I'll be back later this afternoon, then." Harry pushed himself off his bed and headed out to find his friends. He faintly heard Kreacher start some cleaning elsewhere on the floor, but put it out of his mind as he tried to think of how he was going to answer Proudfoot's invitation to join the Aurors.

* * *

><p>Harry appeared in the Ministry Atrium moments after Ron and Hermione to find that people were already starting to crowd the two. Upon seeing Harry though, Harry's friends were practically forgotten and witches and wizards all crowded him, intent on relaying their greetings – especially on his birthday.<p>

It took nearly 15 minutes for the trio to get through the crowd; it certainly helped once the auror on duty started encouraging people to move on. Harry nodded at the man in thanks, and the three moved over towards the security stand.

"Right, just stand here." Eric Munch, the security guard directed Ron, and waved a Probity Probe at him. "Wand!"

Placing Ron's wand on the odd set of scales, he waited for a moment before grabbing a slip of paper that shot out.

"14 inches, willow, unicorn tail-hair? In use for about 5 years?" Eric asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Here. Next!" Hermione underwent the same process, as did Harry.

Just as Harry got back his wand, Eric leant in closer and whispered to him.

"I know normally I'm supposed to check all wands coming in, Mr Potter, but I figure you of all people could use a secret secondary wand. Your secrets safe with me, sir." Eric leant back and waved them through, looking pleased with himself.

Harry, on the other hand, started walking away on autopilot, a sense of horror growing. With his holly wand in its holster, he hesitantly put his hand into his robes pocket and confirmed what Eric had said – there was a second wand. Not just any wand, either.

"Shit." Harry muttered, ignoring the startled looks Ron and Hermione gave him. "Hey, I'm just going to duck down to the DoM quickly. Something I need to ask Croaker…"

Ron and Hermione nodded as Harry strode off, looking concernedly after their friend.

"We'll be at the Education department!" Hermione called out after him, before he disappeared into a side door.

"Do ya think he's –" Ron paused. Hermione shook her head.

"He — It might have just been the message that the security guard gave him; I didn't hear it, but I saw it happen."

* * *

><p>Harry walked quickly towards the stairs, knowing that they would be quicker to go down a single floor than waiting for a lift. He hurried down them, and quickly flicked a glamour charm and weak notice-me-not charm over himself; the two were enough to make most people dismiss him as an unimportant nobody. Discretion was probably better for this end of the ministry anyway. Harry and Croaker had spent plenty of time coming up with reasons as to why Harry was at the DoM regularly, but it was probably better to not need them if possible.<p>

Harry moved into the circular room that served as the entrance to the DoM, and branched off immediately to the offices that he had been shown the day prior. As he moved to Croaker's office, someone called out.

"Croaker's over in the Death Chamber, if you're looking for him. Just go in quietly – they're finishing off a trial up a level, and let us know that the Veil was on the table for consideration. Sound travels stupidly well in that room, and there's a door that leads straight to the courtroom."

Harry thanked the Unspeakable, and headed back out to the circular chamber again, before calling on the Death Chamber. He peered around the door as he pulled it ajar; hearing and seeing nothing, Harry opened it further and let himself in.

"Mr Potter, what are you doing here?"

Harry finished moving into the room before shutting the door behind him. He hurried down the stairs in that were set in the stands that surrounded that dais, cloak billowing in his haste. As he stepped onto the floor, he stumbled, and missed a spark of magic that crackled into existence just as he did so.

"Something happened – something strange. And I thought you would- you might know somethi-"

"Whoa, slow down. What happened?" Croaker had not missed the spark, but was distracted by Harry's rambling. He dismissed it as accidental magic – rare in adult wizards, but could happen when greatly agitated.

"The Hallows – the Elder wand. It's back!" Harry started reaching into his pocket.

"What?! Mr Potter, out! We're leaving. Don't ta-!"

Harry finished pulling out the Elder Wand, and a familiar white flash stopped the older Unspeakable. To him, Harry had vanished in the white flash.

Harry though, was still in front of him, and suddenly understood what the white flash had done – the Deathly Hallows were reuniting themselves to their owner. To him.

Sure enough, the Cloak of Invisibility was thrown round his shoulders with it's hood over his head, and Harry was sure if he reached again into one of his pockets, he might find the Resurrection Stone. Harry felt the magical build-up like the last time this happened. Except, it only increased in fervour as the Hallows unified. Harry reacted, pushing the Elder Wand into his pocket and redrawing his Holly Wand; but both wands came back, sitting in his hand.

While the two men were both grappling with their own shocks, magic was building up in the room – from above, the Wizengamot was preparing to send a criminal for execution. As normal, the Veil was activated, so that it might be ready for their arrival.

Whether or not the Veil was a portal to Death was debateable. Whether or not the Hallows were gifted to the 3 brothers by Death itself was also debateable; both had origins that lay deep in myth, legend and rumour. What was not debateable was that using any powerful magical item is dangerous; the slightest miscalculation can have disastrous effects.

Introducing the Hallows as the Veil was being prepared for use was a disaster that could never have been predicted. Harry was already reacting as the veil began beating in an absent wind; despite holding two wands, he was able to banish Croaker up the stairs that he had just come down. The spell was so strong that Croaker broke through the door, landing in the circular room.

At that point, already rising because of the magical upset, the DoM wards snapped into place, sealing the Death Chamber from all outside influence.

Harry had other problems, though. He had been thrown back by his spell, and was now lying on the dais, just before the Veil itself. The magical build-up dramatically increased now that Harry and the Hallows were that much closer to the Veil – so much that it began to manifest as visible cyclone of magic and wind, tearing up pieces of the stone amphitheatre it swirled over.

Through the swirling and raging magic, all Harry could hear was a quiet whisper – it sounded like Sirius for a moment, but in another, like his mother. Harry pushed himself up to try and move away, to get out-

Harry stepped backwards without looking, just as one of the large stones flew past. It merely brushed him, but it was enough force to throw Harry headfirst through the Veil.


	5. Chapter 4

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

* * *

><p><em>Harry stepped backwards without looking, just as one of the large stones flew past. It merely brushed him, but it was enough force to throw Harry headfirst through the Veil.<em>

Warmth was the first sensation Harry felt as he was waking up, followed almost instantly by a dull, aching throb that pervaded his body. He groaned as he tried to curl into a ball, but his limbs were barely responding to him. He could feel the magical exhaustion that was probably behind a fair bit of his discomfort, like a weight on his chest.

"Oh, he's awake! Well – trying ter be. Someone fetch us a bowl of broth; he mightn't be able to take much more."

Harry groaned again, this time at the assault heaped on his ears by the deep voice nearby. His head hurt more than the rest of him, like he was hung-over from drinking the Three Broomsticks dry.

"Ah – and keep yerselves a bit quieter, too." This last comment was said much more quietly, and didn't hurt offend Harry's pounding head as much.

Harry slowly started moving himself, trying to sit up. Whatever bed they had him on was more firm than soft, so it wasn't too hard, once he got past the pain.

"Wh-" Harry rasped, trying to ask what had happened. He blinked his eyes open, and saw a blurry outline of the room he was in. It looked a bit old fashioned from what he could make out; the walls and roof entirely made of wood, except for the small window. And then there was the source of the voice: a big man, sitting on a chair next to Harry's bed.

"Hang on a momen', lad. I've sent for somethin' easy to swallow, and yer voice'll recover after a bit. Not sure what yeh did to yerself, but yeh didn' look too great when we found yeh."

Harry haltingly reached out for his glasses, hoping that there was a bedside table that would hold them. His host saw what he was doing, and gently placed them on Harry's face.

"That better? You're lucky – they weren' on yeh face when we found yeh. One of me men picked 'em up just as we was about to leave. Not a great set, though."

Harry's vision cleared, and he flickered his eyes around the room. His earlier judgement on building materials had been right; everything seemed to be built from wood, in a somewhat out-dated style. He finally stopped his eyes on the man that was waiting for him.

The gentleman was big, but looked gentle for all his apparent strength. He was dressed in a green uniform of some sort – it almost looked military, but not quite. He didn't have much hair on his head, except for his moustache, but it was all neatly groomed. And he was smiling gently at Harry.

"Broth, Bjarne. Oh-" Another man, also dressed in the green uniform, came in, quietly calling out to the man Harry assumed was called Bjarne, before noticing Harry was awake. He quietly said, "Well, look who's up. Think you're up for some broth?"

Harry nodded slowly, sure that his throat still wasn't up for talking. He reached out to take the soup, but Bjarne took it before he could.

"I think not; I'll feed yeh until you can move withou' shaking'." He said, and started feeding Harry small spoons of the warm liquid.

Harry managed his way through half of the bowl before sleep overcame him, dropping him into the dark.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up later, he was alone. He felt much better physically and magically, though by no means completely better.<p>

Harry relaxed back into the bed he was in, closed his eyes and retreated back into his mind. He used the basic occlumency Croaker had helped him work on to try and figure out why he was nowhere recognizable. He remembered going to the ministry, finding the Elder wand again, heading down to see Croaker, going into the Death Chamb-

"Oh gods." Harry's throat complained lightly as he swore. He had fallen through the Veil, a portal to Death itself.

It was some time before Harry's mind reengaged, and he reached for his wand. He found that he'd been dressed in some clothes, and grabbed his glasses so that he could look around. His glasses, though – they didn't fit! They were his alright; he had gotten them barely a month ago, and had them enchanted. But now they were much too big for his head.

Harry glanced around, nearly dislodging his glasses, and spotted a pile of clothes that looked like his. He slowly forced himself out of the bed and landed on the ground.

"Ahh!" Harry yelped. "What the-!"

Harry hadn't noticed something so far as he recovered from his abrupt trip – he was much, much smaller than he should be. The shock, added to his already unhappy body, left Harry sinking back into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>It was obviously near dawn when Harry jerked awake – he could see hints of light coming through his window. He pushed himself up, and tried to get used to his change in height. Pulling a wand out of his robes, Harry squinted at it, trying to see if it had suffered any damage.<p>

Starting to feel numb to the shocks he was undergoing, Harry lit the lamp to examine the changes to his wand. It was as if his Holly wand and the Elder wand had somehow amalgamated – the Holly and Elder wood seemed to swirl around each other, a fusion of pale and dark timber. The colour wasn't all that was obviously changed; the bulbous appearance of the Elder wand had smoothed out somewhat, leaving the wand shaped more like the Holly wand.

Harry held his new-old wand up, and flicked it at the desk across the room. He could feel the comfortable tingle he associated with his original wand, but it was tinged with the roiling power that he had felt the one time he had used the Elder wand. The desk changed with a 'Pop!' that was reminiscent of Kreacher, and in its place was a full-length mirror.

In that mirror, Harry confirmed with dread that he appeared to not only have shrunk, but also become younger. He turned over his right hand, and then looked further up his arm; the scars from Umbridge and Wormtail were still present, if faded.

Harry slowly sank to the ground, shuddering as the mental and physical distress of the last day finally overwhelmed him, tears forcing their way out of his eyes. He swiped at his eyes in frustration, willing the tears away. He held them in for a moment, and then they streamed out even faster. His chest ached like he'd taken a bludger, and he felt his body throb to his despair.

"Oh lad, what's happened?" A set of strong arms gathered round Harry, who hadn't even noticed Bjarne come and kneel by him. Careless of whom it was Harry leaned in to the embrace, needing the comfort.

The two stayed like that until Harry had cried himself to sleep. Bjarne picked him up and put him back into the bed, putting back the things Harry had picked up. He mightn't know what the stick was for, but it was clearly important; it was looked like it had taken some time to carve, and was the first the boy had gone for when awake.

He wasn't too sure about where the mirror had come from, though.

* * *

><p>Harry woke up later that morning to a gentle shake from the burly man that had found him a few hours ago. He got his glasses, and seeing Bjarne, blushed and curled his legs up to his chest.<p>

"Now don' go hiding under there! Nothin' to be ashamed of." Bjarne settled down in a crouch next to the bed, and looked at Harry. "I don' know how yeh ended up out here, but the North Mountain isn't a nice place for kids. Yeh fever was a bit odd, but tha' seems to have cleared up nicely."

Harry relaxed as Bjarne talked too him, clearly not judging Harry for his emotional lapse. He tensed up at Bjarne's next words.

"Now lad, where'd yeh come from? Gotta family somewhere? And d'you have a name to call yeh?" Bjarne peered in a Harry, waiting for a response.

"I- I'm Harry." Harry's voice sounded so young, especially next to the deep rumble of Bjarne.

"Well, I call meself Bjarne, Harry. How 'bout that family?"

Harry shook his head, not sure how to even begin explaining what had happened to him – well, what little he knew. He supposed that if the Veil normally took one the realm of the Dead, it might be influenced to go somewhere else; the only thing that came to mind was a vague memory of the phrase alternate universe.

"Ah. Well, if yeh've nowhere to go, yeh'd best come with us. I work as a guard fer the King of Arendelle. Well, when the fella's around. We don' see much of him these days. We'll take yeh back to the town, and figure out wha' to do with yeh. D'you think yeh ready for travel?"

Harry nodded, "How are we traveling?"

"I've got us a carriage tha' we can attach ter me horse. S' nothing fancy, but it'll be easier on yeh than riding me horse." Bjarne stood up, and pulled a bag up from the floor. "Now, let's grab yeh stuff."

* * *

><p>It was hours later when Bjarne pulled up to the town surrounding the castle; the place was a bustling hive of everyday life. Harry though, was curled up to Bjarne, dozing again. It was only when the cart pulled up at a small garrison that Harry woke up.<p>

"Awake, then? Welcome ter the big town. 'S not big an' fancy like the one Corona has, but 's ours." Bjarne looked over the street they were on, seeing Harry stare.

"Aye, yeh can see the castle towers from here lad. It's marvellous, tha' place, even if it's a rare thing ter go in."

"Who lives there, besides the King?" Harry finally spoke up, having shaken off his stupor.

"Well, his queen for one, and their two daughters; I don' rightly remember their names, but the oldest'd be 9, I'd say. Hey – how old are you?" Bjarne had gotten out of the cart, and paused as he went to help Harry out.

Harry frowned, not sure what to say. He couldn't come out and say he was 18… Quickly deciding on an age, Harry looked back up at Bjarne.

"I'm 11, I think." Harry took Bjarne's hand to help him down, before taking the bag holding his things from the big man. He followed Bjarne inside the building, and found a comfortable chair in a sitting area that held one or two guards on break.

"Ivar, Harald – I jus' need to have a chat with Hans. Would yeh mind watching Harry here for a bit?"

The two others nodded and agreed. One of them grabbed a chess set that was resting on a table, and came over to Harry.

"Ever played chess, lad?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said nervously, glancing after Bjarne.

After some time speaking with his superiors, Bjarne came back out, and sat next to Harry. A glance to Ivar gave the two some space, and Bjarne steeled himself for a conversation.

"Harry, lad; I've been talking with me superiors, and they said if yeh've got no family, that yeh should be placed with someone here. We can' have yeh left to yerself – so, I thought, I mean I wondered -." Bjarne sighed, and started again. "I was wonderin' if yeh'd like to live with me and me wife."

Harry stared at him, stunned. He hadn't even thought as far as what he'd do for living arrangements. Bjarne took the silence as discomfort with the idea, and rushed to reassure Harry.

"It's just – me wife can' have kids, and we've always wanted – I mean, of course yeh can meet all the other family's that migh' take yeh –" He stumbled over himself to reassure the boy, when Harry leaned in and hugged him.

"I'd like to stay with you." Harry said, not sure why he was being so much more emotional than he was used to. He also wasn't sure why he trusted Bjarne so much; it had something to with the man's manner. He seemed so much like Hagrid, Harry's first friend, even without the similar way they spoke.

Bjarne folded Harry into his arms, before realising something – he hadn't told his wife he was bringing home the boy!

* * *

><p>6 months later<p>

Harry had settled into life with Bjarne and his wife Irene nicely, if somewhat stiltedly. It was a new experience for him, and them. Harry had never really experienced quiet family life; the Dursleys barely qualified as 'family', and the Weasleys were always loud and raucous. His adoptive parents, though – they were kind, and led a quiet life. Harry had even begun to call them as 'Dad' and 'Mum' – despite having been an adult it was oddly comforting.

In some ways, Harry thought that being in a younger body had affected him more than expected; he reacted to things differently than someone who 18 would normally. He felt that physically being younger had regressed his mental age somewhat, despite the memories of his previous life. That said, Harry was by no means a normal pre-teen – it was commented that he was unusually mature for his age. Most people that got to know Harry assumed that whatever happened to him before being found by Bjarne was to blame.

Tonight though, was going to throw a gear in the works. It had been some time since Harry had used magic of any kind; his adoptive parents didn't quite hover, but disappearing for an hour or two was much harder in a small house than a large castle with hundreds of students.

Bjarne was a light sleeper; his training as a royal guard had merely enhanced his ability to wake up quickly. A quiet thud coming from Harry's room was enough to do so, and he waited in bed to see if there was something wrong.

The second noise, much louder, was enough to catapult Bjarne out of bed, and down the hall towards Harry's room. As he came to Harry's door he saw the shudder of something hitting it, and heard quiet moaning.

Bjarne tried pushing the door open, only to find it firmly shut.

"Harry, lad – open up!" He called out, only to get something else hit the door.

"No! I didn't do- go away!"

"Let me in, Harry! Wha's happened?!" Bjarne head more noises from inside, as if things were being thrown around the room. Deciding that enough was enough, he stepped back and leant in before charging the door, breaking it open.

"Wha' the -?!" The door had only opened enough to let him in, but the scene that greeted him stopped him in shock. The room was a mess; the dresser was holding the door, Harry's desk behind it. The contents of both were strewn around the room, with some still moving in the absent wind.

Harry was in his bed, curled up in a foetal ball. His sheets were tangled, and he occasionally he thrashed out, as if trying to hold someone back.

Recognizing that Harry was embroiled in a nightmare, Bjarne pushed over to Harry's bed – as he got closer, some of the moving objects sped up and hit him, as if coordinated to do so. He ignored them and gathered Harry into his arms, muttering consolations.

"Wha-!" Harry woke up, and immediately tried to free himself. Bjarne loosened his hold slightly, but not enough for Harry to escape. Everything that had been moving around slowed and dropped to the ground.

"'S alright, lad. I'm here for you." Harry slowed his struggles, and looked up at Bjarne. He hesitated, and melted into his adoptive father's embrace. They stayed like that until morning.

* * *

><p>"Dad? What- what happened?" Harry woke up the next morning to see Bjarne in his bed, holding him.<p>

"Yeh had a nightmare last night, lad. I was awake and came in and helped yeh settle down; yeh didn' want ter let me go." Bjarne didn't feel Harry had to know he woken him up. "If yeh're up fer it, we might try and clean up yer room, eh?"

Harry looked up and around at his room, and let out a startled squawk. He flinched, fearing that Bjarne might throw him out now that his… talent had been somewhat revealed.

"If yeh want to collect all yeh books an' stuff, I'll get the desk back in place, eh? Then we'll work on the dresser together."

Harry looked up shocked, but Bjarne had already started moving the desk. He paused, smiling to himself, and started gathering his things.

Later that day, Harry found Bjarne fixing the stone wall surround their property, and approached him, unsure of how to broach the topic of his nightmare.

"Dad – about last night- It-"

"Yeh had a nightmare, lad. I don' know what happened to yeh before I found yeh, and if you'd rather it stay in the pas', it can. Jus' know that we're here for yeh, me and yer mum."

"But, my room-!" Harry said, frustrated. How was he not understanding Harry's fear?!

"Yeh, tha' threw me a bit. But, did yeh think I never noticed when yeh glasses suddenly fit yeh? Or the mirror back out at the North Mountain? I figured if yeh knew wha' was happenin', wasn' right fer me to interfere."

Harry smiled at Bjarne, who knew instantly that he'd done the right thing.

* * *

><p>Years passed; Harry grew up again, re-living a childhood that he only could have dreamed of. His nightmares didn't finish with the episode Bjarne walked in on, but didn't last much longer either. Harry found himself thinking on the war more and more often, and he eventually made a sort of peace with his old life. There were still occasions when the memories came back strong and painful, but they were getting much more rare.<p>

Around the time that Arendelle was mourning the loss of it's King and Queen, Harry and Bjarne were attempting to cope with the loss of Irene. Neither her nor Bjarne were young when they adopted Harry, but the loss of his maternal figure for the last 9 years was a blow that hurt Harry deeply. He and Bjarne took solace in each other and their work; Bjarne had been promoted to manage security of the castle, and Harry had joined the guards.

Before his death, the King had still been running the kingdom; he simply did it somewhat removed from the day-to-day running. This meant that by the time of the fateful sea voyage, most of the duties of the King were delegated to trusted men. Kai, one of the few people left that was allowed inside the castle walls was designated steward until Princess Elsa was of age.

As the time arrived that Arendelle might again have a monarch, Bjarne too started to deteriorate in health. It was slow, and had Harry any experience of muggle disease, he might have noted it as cancer.

It was barely a week after the Queen's coronation that Bjarne was informed that he was not to push himself at all, to stay and home and rest.

* * *

><p>After getting his doctor's orders, Bjarne made a decision and called Harry to him.<p>

"Dad? What did the doctor have to say?" After nearly a decade of living in this world, Harry no longer resembled the scrawny boy that had entered it; in fact, he didn't even look that much like what he did in his original world.

"Harry – they've decided tha' I'm not to do anythin' harder than walkin around. No work, either. I don' much like the idea of stayin' here, cooped up, though."

Harry sat down heavily; it wasn't any easier taking the news that his father was unlikely to live much longer than it had been with Irene.

"They can't do anything?" Harry asked.

"No, lad. But I want a favour; much as I love Arendelle, I'd like to take me final days in my home village. Take me there, lad. I'm sorry ter leave yeh alone again, but 's my time."

Harry nodded, too choked up to say anything. He leaned over and hugged Bjarne, needing comfort.

"There lad, come on. Let's get some stuff together, and yeh can find a horse and cart ter borrow."

"Are you sure you're up to travelling, Dad? Alva is a over a days riding away…"

"I'll be fine, Harry."

Harry agreed reluctantly, and headed out to secure them transport. Several hours later found them on the road out of town.

* * *

><p>Harry rode back into town 3 days later, having seen his father to his home village. He would visit again in a week or two. Harry had tried to stay with Bjarne, but his father would not hear of Harry staying.<p>

Upon his arrival, Harry headed to the garrison where he had worked for the last few years, and came inside to find Ivar. The guard that had distracted Harry with chess the first time he came to Arendelle had become head guard. He ran the guards of Arendelle, and worked with Bjarne to ensure the kingdom was safe. Recently, he had been helping Harry as he took on some of his father's work.

Harry knocked on Ivar's door, and entered when asked.

"Harry! How'd did Bjarne take the travelling? Were there any troubles?"

"No, thank goodness. I got dad settled into his old cottage, and I found a girl to help him out around the house – granddaughter of one his old friends. He seemed happier out in Alva; I could see why. The place is quite pretty."

"Aye. Ooh! I almost forgot – Kai sent someone down to ask for you when you came back; you'd best head up to the castle to see what's happening!"

"The castle? But –" Harry paused. "The gates are open, I suppose. It's just odd – they open for the first time in over a decade, and then all of a sudden, they're open permanently?"

"Aye, well. I can see why the Queen didn't want herself near others, but she seems to have gotten a hold on her ice."

"Yeah…" Harry mumbled, remember the Great Freeze and Thaw. He'd been just as surprised as anyone; it was the first real sign of magic that he'd encountered since he'd left his original world. Sure, there were stories, but nothing had happened where he could see it. "Well, I'd best be off. Kai probably wants to talk about Dad's work, or something."

Saying goodbye to Ivar Harry headed off, leaving his horse at the garrison in favour taking a walk to the castle.


	6. Chapter 5

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p><em>Saying goodbye to Ivar Harry headed off, leaving his horse at the garrison in favour taking a walk to the castle.<em>

Whilst the walk to the castle was not a long one, it did give Harry some time to reflect on the last few weeks. With the disastrous coronation and his father's failing health, Harry hadn't had much time to process all that had been happening.

Although Bjarne was more immediately concerning to Harry, there wasn't much he could do; Hogwarts, the war and his brief stint of Unspeakable training had never prepared him for more than what amounted to battlefield medicine. Potions, for all their usefulness, were not something Harry had much liked, and without access to equipment, experimenting in this world was quite pointless.

Ever since the first nightmare that Bjarne had interrupted, Harry had stolen away for an hour or two when he could. He was intent on maintaining his last connection to his previous life – magic. It was nearly impossible for him to safely to come up with new magic – there was a reason for the Committee on Experimental Charms. When Harry joined the Royal Guards, he had stopped simply working to remember what he had learnt. Instead Harry took what he knew, and found ways of using it to assist him in his work. A memory of his brief experience with wandless magic before his fifth year led Harry to working on developing the skill. It wasn't much, despite his hard work.

The coronation, though; that was something Harry was still practically reeling from. Magic! Real, honest to god magic! The princesses of Arendelle (well, now one was a Queen) were both mysteries to their people; less so now that the gates were open, but little was known of either. Moreover, no one quite knew how or why the Queen actually had her powers. Harry had never shown his magic to anyone except Bjarne and Irene, but he didn't let loose much. Even though Harry hadn't lived under the Ministry for Magic's laws for years, the habit of secrecy was still there.

Queen Elsa was intriguing to Harry; he had always had a predilection for magical mysteries. Harry could only assume that she had always hidden her powers, and become something of a hermit in the process. He sympathized with her reaction to being ousted; as Harry Potter, he had been rejected many times by the people around him. He hadn't been at the castle when the coronation party went south, but he had heard what had happened.

Anna, the younger sister, was somewhat known to the people. She had attended her parent's funeral and some had had a chance to give her their condolences. There was also her flight from the castle upon the gates being opened; more than a few people had guessed who the young woman dancing around the town had been, given the circumstances. Anna was also credited with ensuring the people's survival during the Great Freeze, despite her absence - it seemed people didn't want to attribute anything good to Prince Hans. Anna's friendly and open nature was endearing her to her people quickly, especially with the amount of time she spent outside the castle.

Harry had never met either of the sisters but assumed that in the course of his duties as Royal Guard he would, now that the gates were open. Until now the Royal Guard had mostly worked from outside the castle. The situation was contradictory, but the King ordered it. Now that things had changed, Harry presumed that Ivar would be rearranging guards to protect the Royal family; open gates made protecting them both easier and harder.

Walking along the crossway that led to the castle, Harry took in the view. He reflected that despite being much smaller than Hogwarts, it was still quite big. Hogwarts could only exist with magic supporting it; on the other hand Arendelle Castle only existed to rule it's small kingdom and was bound by physical laws. Harry couldn't imagine how empty it must have been for the last 12 years, but thought that with only half a dozen or so occupants, it probably could have left each with several rooms to themselves.

Harry passed through the gates, and greeted the guards standing there.

"Harry! Welcome back — how's your father?" The nearest asked.

"He's settled back in his village, and I've found someone to take care of him. He seemed happy to see the place."

"Aye — you get to a point in life where all you want is home; well, if it's not too painful." Another said.

"Yeah… So, I'm looking for Kai - do know where I could find him? I've only really ever been this far in."

"Here — Leif, can you show Harry up to the Reception Hall, and point out Kai's room?"

Leif, about a year younger than Harry, stepped forward and gestures for Harry to follow him. It wasn't long before Harry was left in front of a door marked 'Steward'.

Harry knocked twice before what felt like a giant stuffed toy knocked him down. He shook his head, and caught the sight of a snowman disappearing around a corner. Harry stood up, looking after the odd snowman, trying to recall its name...

"Ola-ooph!" Harry met the ground a second time as a young woman slipped on the trail of wet left by the escaping caricature. This time though, his assailant stopped after hitting him.

"Oops - I'm so sorry! I didn't see you, I was chasing Olaf, and then I - I'm sorry! I slipped, and here I am, I'm so sorry!"

Harry groaned, face presses into the carpet. He wasn't sure how it had happened, but he was now very sore.

"My lady? Perhaps you could let up the gentleman that was knocking on my door?" Kai spoke up, having opened the door just after Olaf had vanished. He had a small grin on his face, though he hid it as Anna pushed herself off of Harry.

"Thanks..." Harry muttered as he stood up. It was then that he realized with horror who had run him down. He bowed hurriedly. "Your Highness, I apologize for standing in your way!"

Anna looked at Harry, trying to figure out who he was, but decided she didn't know him. She smiled and glanced at Kai, before focusing back on Harry.

"Wha- it was my- I mean; of course! I do expect you will do better next time." Anna said primly. She made it two steps past Harry before she burst into a fit of giggles and ran after Olaf again. Harry stared, mildly surprised.

"Not quite the picture of royalty, but she is well meaning."

Harry started, and remembered why he was there.

"Kai! Ivar said you wanted me up here for something?" Harry asked, following the man into his office.

"Yes; I was speaking to the Queen about your father leaving. We need someone to replace him — I suggested you, and the Queen would like to meet you before deciding anything."

"Meet the Queen?! Now- right now?!" Harry spluttered, feeling entirely unprepared for such a meeting. "And — hang on, you want me to take my dad's job?!"

Kai smiled at Harry's reaction, "Yes. You may only be 23, but I know you are good; the last few weeks have clearly shown that. Now let's go."

Harry dutifully followed Kai, still surprised by the idea do him being in charge of castle security; his father had been involved in the Royal Guard for years before moving into that position.

Harry was led up a large circular staircase, and down a hall filled with paintings. It was off this that their destination lay; the Queen's secondary reception hall. It was smaller, and offered more privacy for meetings than the Great Hall on the ground level. Kai knocked twice, and waited for an answer.

"Enter!"

Kai pushed the door open and went in, gesturing for Harry to wait a moment. Harry could hear muffled talking for a couple moments before Kai reappeared to bring him in. He breathed in, and set his face in a neutral mask.

Harry entered the room, and glanced over it. It wasn't huge, but still sizable. There was an imposing portrait of the previous King on one wall, bookshelves lining another. The doors to the balcony were open, letting in the summer air. Queen Elsa was seated at a desk in the corner, with paperwork laid across it.

Harry walked across the room after Kai.

"Ma'am, Harry Bjarnssen." Kai introduced him.

Harry bowed. "Your Majesty."

* * *

><p>Elsa looked up as there was a knock on the door; she assumed it was Kai. Most everything went through the man at some point, especially that which needed her notice.<p>

"Enter!" she called out, shuffling the papers in front of her to look somewhat organized. It was Kai, as suspected, and he moved over towards her, before bowing.

"Your Majesty, I have brought Harry Bjarnssen, as requested," Kai said.

"Very well, bring him in. Wait — what village did he just return from?" Elsa asked. It was handy to know little things like this occasionally; it gave conversations a slightly more personal touch.

"Alva, ma'am." Kai turned, and went back to the door, and let Harry in.

Elsa watched carefully as the young man entered; the first thing she noted was his apparent age. It had never quite come up in her discussion with Kai, but she had assumed that he would be older, given Bjarne's age. Instead, it looked like he was barely older than her. She also noticed his immediate glance over her reception room, and the way he walked; it was subtle, but she knew that it was a habit that took years to instill. Despite his age, she would wager that he would be talented.

As Harry walked over, she observed his face – his expression was a blank veneer, giving nothing on his mind away. His black hair wasn't long, but would stand out somewhat in a crowd; there were few people in Arendelle that did not have brown or blond hair. He stopped in front of her desk with Kai.

"Ma'am, Harry Bjarnssen."

"Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Kai. Mr. Bjarnssen, how is your father? I understand you have just returned from taking him home to Alva?"

"Yes, ma'am. He is doing well; I settled him into his old house before coming back to Arendelle."

"Good. I am sorry to hear of his failing health; He has ensured this castles safety, and thereby my own for many years. We do however need to continue his work; Kai has suggested that you take up his duties… What do you think of this?"

"I am deeply honored, ma'am, that I would be considered. I would do my best to uphold your trust in me. I ju- I don't understand why I am being asked. Even if I've been helping my dad with his work – I-" Harry broke off and looked down, not sure how to communicate his apprehension.

"Ah. Well, Kai suggested you; he certainly knows more about the guards than I do. However, I also agree with you to an extent. Whilst I am sure that you are excellent at what you do, I don't believe I can appoint you to such a position with a clear conscience." Elsa said. She tilted her head at him, thinking carefully.

"Ma'am, perhaps-" Elsa held her hand up, stopping Kai from attempting to persuade her. Harry looked up, and saw her thoughtful expression.

"However, Kai assures me that none amongst the guards possesses the skill and cunning you have; both are needed to oversee castle security. My main concern is the managing of guards; at your age, regardless of talent, they will not respect you. Also, you have only worked with them for a few years; such a promotion might ruffle feathers amongst those that have been serving for longer."

Elsa stood up and circled around her desk to exit onto the balcony, gesturing for Harry and Kai to follow her into the sunlight. She stopped at the balustrade, looking over the courtyard.

"So — if you agree Mr Bjarnssen, this is what I propose: Ivar, head of the Royal Guards, will officially take on responsibility for castle security. However as those duties — in addition to his current ones — will take too much of his time, he shall delegate them to you, as his assistant." Elsa turned back to face Harry and Kai, "I think that once you have proved yourself for a few years, we can renegotiate."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, ma'am." Kai said, seeing that Harry was still processing. He nudged Harry, prompting a response.

"Your Majesty, your insight has assuaged my concerns greatly. With the arrangement described, I would be happy to accept." Harry said, starting to smile. This could be very exciting; he was going to be working in the castle!

"Excellent. Being in charge of castle security will mean that you ought familiarize yourself with the castle itself; as such, I am extending you an invitation to live here." Elsa said. Her tone softened as she continued, "Also, I thought it might make things easier for you personally; I know how hard it can be to cope with a parents absence."

Harry nodded, the brief reminder of his father sobering him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will arrange to move my belongings here as soon as I can; whom should I ask for when I arrive?"

"If I may, you should ask for Gerda, my wife. I will let her know to expect you." Kai interjected.

"Very well, everything is arranged. At some point we shall sit down to discuss the castle's needs, once you have had a chance to acclimatize."

"Thank you, ma'am. Also, if you'll pardon my candor; Bjarnssen is a mite cumbersome — I wouldn't mind being called Harry — by everyone." Harry said hurriedly, not entirely sure if he was committing a faux pas.

Elsa smiled, and nodded.

"Of course, Harry. Kai — if you would be able to escort Harry to the gates, and perhaps arrange a map for him?"

"Of course, Your Majesty." Kai bowed briefly, before turning for the door.

"Your Majesty." Harry also bowed, accepting the dismissal.


	7. Chapter 6

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p>Life was an odd thing; it went through shifts and phases. Sometimes the shifts were drastic, exciting events – other times, they were small, vague things. But when such a shift happened, it could change your life.<p>

To Harry, history had shown that moving into a castle could change your life hugely; he had made his first friends and really begun to live, magic and all. He had also been practically exiled, hated and persecuted. As he packed his belongings once again into a trunk, he wondered at what this shift might bring.

Work, certainly. That was the entire reason he was moving in, after all. Having purpose was definitely something Harry enjoyed; it gave him purpose and direction. It might also give him a chance to find friends – not that he was friendless now. No, it was more that he had never found friends like Ron and Hermione in this world. Those two had been his constant companions, comrades and confidants – how could he ever replace them?

But they weren't here anymore. Harry sighed, and shut the lid on his trunk. He had spent over a year dealing with grief after leaving his previous life. It had taken him a long time to accept his losses and the trauma the war had left him with. Having loving parents had helped, but it had mostly taken time to heal his inner scars.

Harry looked up when someone knocked at his door, and called out,

"Come in!"

It was Leif, the young guard that had escorted him inside the castle.

"I've been sent by Kai to help you move up to the castle. I brought a horse and cart along to help, too."

Harry smiled, grateful that he wasn't going to have to search out transport himself. The house he and Bjarne had lived in was not close to the castle, being set somewhat into the hills.

"Thanks, Leif. Makes my life a bit easier, that's for sure. Here – if you want to grab the stuff I leave at the door, then we'll load up together." Harry said.

"Right. I hope none of the furniture..?"

Harry laughed, and shook his head.

"Nah – well, except the desk. I built that myself, so I'm a bit attached."

It didn't take long for everything to be packed up; Harry found that living in what amounted to the 1800's made living simpler, in some ways. At the moment, he was simply glad he didn't have loads of belongings. It was mostly essentials, with a few extras here and there. Unfortunately, he only had the 4 magical objects that had travelled with him into his new universe.

The ride into town and up to the castle was quiet, with little conversation. Silence didn't really bother Harry; he had begun enjoying quiet reflection more since his journey to this world. It was on this trip into Arendelle Castle that he begun thinking about the people he knew lived in the castle and the last few weeks.

The snowman Olaf, who had run him down earlier, intrigued Harry. He had heard odd bits and pieces about him, most notable being that he didn't melt despite the summer weather. Harry wondered if it was permanent variety of a cooling charm, but dismissed the idea. He knew little about Elsa's magic, but doubted it worked in spells and charms. She didn't seem to carry a focus of any sort, nor had he heard of any incantations. He had never actually seen the Snow Queen's magic, only heard second hand recollections – well, aside from the very notable Great Freeze.

Harry had spent most of the Great Freeze with his father, who despite his protestations would not have fared well outside, where he tried to be. The entire town was in uproar, so very few people noticed the absence of Harry and Bjarne. Harry had spent the entire first day fortifying their house with warming charms; they were not intended for long-term use, so it was an effort to balance power and longevity. In the end Harry had slept most of the next day away, by which time the second rescue had already left for the North Mountain.

Prince Hans had left Kai in charge when he left to search out the Royal family, and Harry had quickly found the man. With little else available, Harry joined the guards and palace staff in providing for the townspeople. He couldn't do much (warming charms for every residence would take him weeks, even with limitless power), but even a touch of warming on blankets would help.

When most everyone had enough to survive, he had moved on to the soup kitchens. Some of the town folk had started up a second one to relieve the castle staff after they had been working for over a day, and that was where Harry had ended up.

Once the Great Freeze was over though, Harry had headed for Bjarne; if nothing else, he would likely be needed in his official capacity. Harry had then spent the next few days working behind the scenes as the country recovered and the foreign dignitaries prepared to farewell Arendelle. He had watched over Prince Hans on board the French ship for several hours until they launched, allowing the crew to occupy themselves solely with the ship. Harry had taken the opportunity to leave the despicable Prince with a few prank spells he had picked up over his Hogwarts careers; an itching curse to a very uncomfortable place, a lengthy flatulence curse and some semi-permanent boils would grace the poor noble for some time.

Returning to his train of thought, Harry briefly ran over what he knew of the Royal sisters – he had already exhausted his limited knowledge of them on his walk to the castle though. Now, though, he had clear faces to put to both of them. Anna, younger and slightly shorter – she seemed to be infectiously happy, given how even Kai was smiling after seeing her earlier (though he may have been laughing at Harry). It seemed to Harry that more effort had been put towards Elsa when it came to developing her court manner. Not that it was all that important in Arendelle; the people were quite relaxed on the whole. Just – easily surprised.

Elsa was much more reserved than her sister, and seemed to exist in a state of refined grace. It reminded Harry greatly of a few of the pureblood students at Hogwarts that hadn't been into the dogma, but not considered blood-traitors. Harry suspected that the calm was a façade; powerful magic was almost always emotionally involved. Very quietly, at the back of his mind, Harry thought that Elsa was also quite pretty.

Ignoring that tangent, Harry then recalled the ice man – Kristopher? No, Kristoff. He and his reindeer weren't unknown in town, but Harry had only met him once or twice briefly. He snorted as he remembered Kristoff's new title – Official Ice Master and Deliverer. He wasn't sure exactly what that would involve, but he had seen the sled. Very fancy.

There were few other people that Harry knew lived in the castle. A few servants, certainly. There was also likely to be several guards rotating in and out – he'd have to get the roster off of Ivar later. Harry started when the cart bumped over a rough patch of cobblestones, and realised that they had nearly reached the castle.

"Goodness, that was quick. I didn't doze, did I?" Harry asked.

"Nah just looked like you were having deep thoughts. I figured I'd best leave you to them." Leif said, smiling.

Harry nodded, appreciating the young man's thoughtfulness. He greeted the guards that opened the castle gates for them as Leif lead them further into the courtyard.

"Well then, I suppose I'd best find Gerda eh? Might be good to know where I'm staying."

"No need, Harry. She's just coming." Leif pointed out Gerda exiting a smaller door off in a corner.

"Harry, how are you? And Bjarne – how did he settle into Alva?" Gerda asked, and then frowned at him. "Have you even stopped for food today?! I know you've already been here once, and that was barely a few hours ago! As soon as this is unloaded, I want you down to the kitchens!"

Harry smiled. Gerda often reminded him of Mrs Weasley – a little overbearing sometimes, but she was just the mothering sort.

"I haven't eaten today, but I will stop in for some lunch. Dad's alright, he's pretty happy being back in Alva. If he and I hadn't been in the Royal Guard, he probably would have moved there a few years ago."

Gerda nodded with a sad sort of smile, and gestured for Harry and Leif to follow her.

"As for me, I'm a little overwhelmed but pretty OK. I'm pretty sure this morning I was just a guard…"

Leif snorted quietly and blushed as he came under scrutiny.

"What?" Harry prodded him.

"Well… I've only been with the Royal Guard for a bit, but you're – well known."

Harry groaned. "No…"

Gerda grinned at his discomfort.

"It's your own fault, Harry. You joined the guards at 16 – one of the few people to do so – and then topped that off by beating down the best swordsman they had at the time barely a year later!"

"Not to mention that thing with the horde of barbarians!" Leif piped up.

"No – that didn't happen!" Harry protested. "I found three men trying to get into the castle, and nabbed them. There was no horde!"

"Oh." The young guard seemed a bit disappointed.

"Besides, they escaped the gaol a couple days later." Harry felt bad at the face Leif was putting on, but he honestly didn't know how stories escalated so much. Town gossip was nearly as bad as Hogwarts gossip – and that was saying something.

"Still, Harry. Being a bit popular with the guards isn't a bad thing. Now, here's your room. I've put a map of the castle on the bed for you dear."

"More like infamous…" Harry muttered, before straightening up. "Thanks, Gerda. You're the best."

"Don't forget to eat!" Her voice floated back as she disappeared around the corner.

Harry and Leif quickly peeked into his room, before carefully retracing their steps back to the courtyard. The small door they had used wasn't far from Harry's room, which he appreciated. Using the main doors to exit every time he wanted to visit the town seemed a bit over the top.

On reaching the courtyard though, they found that the horse had moved – or rather, it was chasing a snowman.

"Wha-" Harry started, before charging after the horse. He quickly caught it, much to the horse's irritation. He wasn't sure if it was after the carrot nose, or if Olaf had somehow annoyed it… Given the persistence of the horse, he suspected the latter, though. He wasn't sure how it had gotten free of the cart, though.

"Oh… We where playing chase!" Olaf had noticed that he was running away from nothing, and come looking for the horse.

"Really? And what did you do to convince Leif's poor horse to play chase?" Harry kneeled down next to the snowman, looking at him carefully.

"Well… I may have sneezed my nose at him." Olaf looked down at the ground. "And then taken it back. He wanted to eat it!"

Harry chuckled, and looked up at Leif.

"Maybe you should take the horse back to the stables; I'll start moving my stuff in."

"Righto – I'll be back soon." Leif jumped onto the horse and rode it out the gates.

"Now, what to do with you." Harry looked at the snowman.

"I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs! Woah… you've got loads of stuff in here. Are you a delivery man, like Sv- no, Kristoff?"

"Nah, I'm one of the guards. Sort-of. And I'm moving into the castle. How would you like to help?"

"Really?! I'd love to help! Here, I'll take this!" Olaf reached in and grabbed one of the handles on Harry's trunk, only for his arms to pop out of his body as he tumbled back out of the cart.

Harry reached in and pulled out the two sticks, and looked at them carefully. He reached up and tapped a rune on his glasses that he hadn't used in years; it allowed him to get more of a visual sense of magic. The arms glowed bright blue, though they were missing the usual runes that littered enchanted objects from Harry's reality.

"Ow!" Harry bit out as one of them swung around and whacked him. He knelt down and replaced them, and handed Olaf the small box. "This might be more to your size, eh? Leave those big ones for me – my arms won't fall off. Probably."

"OK!"

Harry made the mistake of glancing around without turning off the special feature on his glasses – the bright blaze of blue from just inside a balcony almost blinded him. Quickly fixing that Harry glanced back at the balcony. The doors on it were closed but it looked like the one that came out of Elsa's private reception hall, which she seemed to have adopted as her study.

"So why are you moving in?" Olaf didn't much seem to like the quiet, so Harry humoured the odd snowman.

"Well, I'm here to protect the castle, basically. And the people in it. My dad used to do it, but he's getting a bit old to be running around. Do you stay in here most of the time?"

"Mostly! I was out in the town the other day, and I saw the most beautiful flowers… Oh, I love summer!"

"Hmm… And you don't melt?"

"Can't you see my flurry? Elsa made it for me when she brought back summer…"

"Ah. Silly me." Harry grinned; the oddball was entertaining.

They came round the corner to Harry's room, and Harry noticed the door was ajar. He put his trunk down, and gestured for Olaf to follow him quietly.

Pushing the door open Harry listened closely, trying to see who was inside – but he needn't have bothered – they were not talking quietly.

"Really, Kristoff – none of these rooms have been used in forever! I should know, I've been here a while."

"Anna, I – look, the room is nice, but it looks like it's been cleaned out for someone."

"Don't be silly, the castle just had a whole bunch of people staying; of course some of the rooms haven't been completely packed up!"

Harry pulled back, and double-checked that he had come to the right room. He had, so he smiled reassuringly at Olaf before knocking.

"Your Highness?"

"Oh- uh – Hi!" Anna said, rushing to the door. Kristoff appeared behind her, looking mildly embarrassed at being caught alone in a bedroom with the princess.

"Oh – you again. Uh, sorry about earlier, again." Anna went slightly pink, glancing back at Kristoff.

"Earlier?" Kristoff asked with a teasing lilt.

"I – well, you see – uh-" Anna stammered.

Harry snorted, and interjected.

"I was in the castle earlier today when I was run down by Olaf, and then the Princess shortly thereafter. I believe a game of chase was on. Something you seem to enjoy too much, eh?" Harry grumbled the last bit down at Olaf, who had peeked around Harry.

"Hi guys!"

There was a chorus of "Hi Olaf" before Anna and Kristoff focused back on Harry.

"So…" Anna drew the word out.

"Yeah, uh.." Harry scratched his head. "This is my room."

"Wait, what?" Anna said.

"Hah! Told you!" Kristoff exclaimed.

"It was – when did it become your- wait. Why are you living here?" Anna changed tacks halfway through interrogating Harry.

"Queen Elsa asked me to; I'm in charge of castle security." Harry said, not sure if he was in trouble with the princess.

"Really? Elsa asked you to move in?" Anna frowned, as if trying to reconcile the idea with her mental picture of Elsa.

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh. Uh, sorry about invading your room, then. I thought it was still set up from the coronation. Say, what was your name again?"

"I don't think I've had a chance to say it, but I'm Harry; Harry Bjarnssen, ma'am." Harry bowed quickly.

"Oh, none of that. You can call me Anna, especially seeing as you're going to be living here."

"Uh, sure - Anna." Harry said.

"And the silent lump is Kristoff. He's my – I mean, we're-" Anna stumbled over her words a bit before Kristoff interrupted her.

"We're dating. Sorry about the room thing – we'll get out of your way." Kristoff pushed lightly on Anna, encouraging her out of the doorway.

"Wait, what?" Anna said before being pressed down the corridor. "Bye Harry!"

"Sorry again!" Kristoff called back.

"Bye…?" Harry stared after to duo bemusedly.

"Ah, true love."

Harry glanced down at Olaf, who was gazing at the corner they had just rounded.

"Really? Haven't they only known each other for a couple weeks?"

"At least that's an improvement on her previous suitor."

Harry twitched in surprise as Elsa spoke up behind him, before turning and greeting her.

"Your Majesty, you surprised me."

"Hi Elsa!" Olaf said, diving in for a hug. She knelt down and accepted it, before looking back up at Harry.

"I was looking for Anna, but it's good to run into you again. I'm on my way to lunch – would you like to come?"

"How long until it starts? It's just I've only just started unloading the cart." Harry was quite interested in lunch, as his grumbling stomach attested to.

"It starts soon…" Elsa leaned in to Harry to whisper. "That is, when I get there. So really, it could start whenever."

Harry grinned at the smirk on Elsa's face,

"Such a pity I won't be able to make it for at least 20 minutes…" Harry trailed off.

"Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten something on the other side of the castle. I'll have to go check it before lunch!" Elsa said exaggeratedly. She turned around and left; as she went around the corner she looked back and winked.

"I could have gone for her! Then you guys could have lunch." Olaf said. "I don't eat, you know. Or have a stomach."

Harry laughed and dragged the trunk into the room, putting in a corner.

"It's alright, Olaf. She was pretending, so that we could have enough time to do this and not be late for lunch."

"Oh… Let's go then!" Olaf dumped his box and disappeared out the door in a flurry.

Harry shook his head and followed him, a little distracted by how Elsa's face had lit up when she smiled.

* * *

><p>As Uni just started up for me updates are going to come a bit slower, unfortunately.<p>

That said, I'm not abandoning the story; hang in tight, more is coming!


	8. Chapter 7

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p>Lunch was a strange occasion, with odd contrasts. On one hand, there was the large, fancy dining room it was being held in. On the other, there was the boisterous presence of the princess, and her boyfriend. Back on the first hand, there was the Queen; graceful, calm and poised. To the second hand there was Olaf, a hilarious combination of naivety, wisdom and noise.<p>

Harry wasn't entirely sure where he was supposed to fit in, but bravely stepped in to the room and moved towards the table.

"Harry! Come sit here!" Olaf said, waving his stick arms.

The others all looked up and greeted Harry. Elsa sent a knowing smile his direction, seeing he was still worked up from making it to the hall.

"Hullo – not too late, am I? Gerda will have my head if I don't eat." Harry pulled out the seat Olaf had next to him.

Harry looked over the table and saw two large bowls of food; and closer inspection showed one had meatballs and the other a stew. He served himself some of the stew, and settled in to eat.

"So… Elsa, about the-"

"Of course we can find a room for Kristoff. Talk to Gerda, and we'll have one ready in no time. Maybe we could put him in the east corridor?" Elsa said.

"But – it's on the other end of the- you brat!" Anna took a moment to figure out that Elsa was teasing her, before pouting and turning to Kristoff.

"Aren't you supposed to take my side, not sit there giggling at me?"

"I'm not giggling! It's a manly chuckle!"

Harry snorted into his bowl, trying not to laugh at Kristoff and failing.

"Hey! Not you too. These two already gang up on me!" Kristoff whined.

"I'm sure you can defend yourself from these two. I mean you are a big, strong ice harvester. Right?"

Kristoff let his head hit the table with a solid whack, groaning.

"I'm doomed…!"

Anna smiled sweetly, and poked her boyfriend. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

She pulled out the wide-eyed, innocent look and started trembling her lip until Kristoff gave in with a sigh.

"No, Anna, you're wonderful."

Harry chuckled at the two as he ate; Kristoff was right. He was doomed – at least he'd go with a smile on his face. Harry supposed there could be worse things than a mischievous 18-year-old princess, but it was funny to watch the two together.

A snowball suddenly broke against Anna and Kristoff as they were making cutesy, breaking them up.

"Too much fluff for lunchtime!" Elsa said, grinning at the stunned looks the pair gave her.

"You did not just start a snow fight!" Anna said, smirking and standing up. She grabbed a piece of buttered bread and hurled it back at Elsa. "Make us some snow and it's on!"

Elsa flicked a ball of light up at the roof and in moments the rooms was covered in snow. She slid off her chair after throwing another snowball at the two, Olaf following her. Harry ducked as Kristoff returned fire and clambered under the table not a moment too soon – it seemed as the last person besides them at the table Anna and Kristoff had decided he was on Elsa's team.

"Snowball?" Harry jumped, before realising that Elsa was offering him access to the small pile of snowballs she had created. More were whirling into existence and growing as he stared.

"Yes!" Harry grabbed two and threw them back over the table, scoring at least 1 hit. He bobbed under a return shot but took the second handful of snow in the face. He spluttered as the cold sludge tried to get into his mouth and nose before running down his front.

The two seconds he took to recover was his downfall – Anna and Kristoff had gathered enough snow to come around the table and attack.

"Ah-ooph!" Kristoff had pushed Harry into the small mountain of snow, and moved on to help Anna with Elsa. He hadn't counted on Olaf, though.

The little snowman jumped on Kristoff and his weight pulled them both into a second snowdrift. Elsa and Anna stopped for a moment to laugh at the two men, but cut off as a shriek was heard.

"What happened in here?!" Gerda was standing in the doorway, looking at the room in horror.

"Uh-"

"We'll clean up!" Anna burst out before anyone could explain.

"I-But-"

"It's OK, Gerda. I can clean it up!" Elsa said, looking guiltily at the mess around the hall. "Here – it's going already!"

Harry looked around the hall as the snow began melting and swirling into nothing-ness. He reached up and tried to surreptitiously tap his glasses, and was treated to a breath-taking visual of the bright blue magic as it seemed to absorb and disperse the mounds of snow in intricate eddies and swirls.

"Wow…" Harry murmured. He turned off the rune magic before looking back at the queen though – he remembered what had happened earlier.

"How on earth did lunch become a winter?" Gerda asked, less panicked now that the snow and ice had disappeared.

"Elsa started it!" Anna said, pointing at her older sister. Kristoff nodded emphatically next to her.

Elsa sighed and then grinned.

"Did not – it was Harry!"

Harry gaped, and then turned to Gerda, who was fighting a smile.

"I did noth- I don't have snow powers!"

Anna giggled and set Elsa off laughing with her. Kristoff shook his head and Gerda finally lost her fight.

"I'm afraid the queen has spoken, Harry. You'll have to come with me. You'll be severely punished for messing up the dinning hall." Gerda said, trying to be serious. She grabbed Harry and pushed him out of the hall, only to have a quiet laugh once they were out the doors.

"So what actually happened?" She asked, gesturing for Harry to follow her.

"Humph. Anna and Kristoff were being cutesy and Elsa threw a snowball at them to break it up. Anna then decided that Elsa had started a snow-fight and demanded more snow to fight with."

"Oh, that brings back memories. Those two girls started that tradition a long time ago…"

Harry stared at Gerda, confused.

"But, I thought that Anna didn't know about Elsa…?"

"Oh, well. I shouldn't say too much – none of our business, really – but when the two girls were much younger, it wasn't unusual for us to wake up in the middle of the night to find part of the castle turned into a winter wonderland. That was before the late King shut the gates, though."

"Was that because of Elsa?" Harry asked, curious. It certainly fit, and made a twisted sort of sense. Gerda frowned genuinely this time, but answered.

"Aye, it was her powers that prompted the closed gates. I shouldn't tell you anymore, though. It's personal to the Queen, and the Princess."

"That's OK. It's in the past, now anyway." Harry rushed to assure Gerda. "Where are we headed?"

"I'm going to presume that you didn't get to eat much of your lunch – I saw you heading in only a couple minutes before I found snow drifting out of there."

"Ah," Harry's stomach grumbled at exactly the right moment, "I suppose that's a good idea. I finished getting all my stuff into my room, though. Well, once Anna realised that the room was taken."

"Oh? And what did the princess want with an extra room?"

"She wants Kristoff to move in for when he is in town instead of in the mountains."

"Ah. It'll be good to have a few extra people living in this castle – it's been a bit lonely the last few years." Gerda sighed, before brightening and pushing Harry into the kitchens.

It wasn't long before Harry had been handed a bowl full of more food and sent on his way. He headed back towards his room, which still needed unpacking.

* * *

><p>It was a few hours later that Harry finally decided that his room was as much to his satisfaction as it would be for that day. It was nearing sunset and he hadn't yet had a chance to really explore the keep.<p>

Harry left his room with Gerda's map in hand, and headed for the ground floor – it held the ballroom, the castle library, the throne room and a hall full of paintings. Harry was most interested in the library; despite his seeming lack of studiousness at Hogwarts, he had always enjoyed reading. The library had started as a refuge from Dudley and his bullies, but had evolved to something more as years went by.

As Harry approached the library he noticed how unused this part of the castle seemed to be. It was clean certainly, but the slight peeling of paint, the braziers that looked as if they were well rusted and the carpet that was clearly less used than the rest told Harry that it was unlikely that the library was popular amongst the castle occupants. Given the number of them, that probably meant no-one had been there for some time.

Harry pushed the door open and winced as it shrieked in protest; the hinges were very much un-oiled. He looked around for something too light, and quickly lit the (again, rusted) brazier that sat in the centre of the room with a murmured '_Incendio'_.

Harry shut the library door as quietly as he could; the noise was horrendous. Looking around he spotted several other torches mounted on the wall, all near seats and tables. The shelves that filled the room were tall, and comfortably full of books. There only appeared to be the vaguest of ordering systems, and it certainly was the Dewey Decimal – it looked as though the books were grouped somewhat by age, and then within by topic.

Harry moved towards the back of the library and started browsing the books there, not really searching for anything in particular. More and more of the books were written in Elder Futhark the further back he moved – although he had never studied Ancient Runes, he had covered enough in Unspeakable training to read them slowly.

The sun had well and truly set by this point, and Harry finally noticed how long he had been wandering the depths of the library. He picked up the book he had been skimming and took it back to where he found it, and was turning to leave when he saw it.

It was an ordinary book, especially in comparison to the ancient books around it; but what drew Harry's attention was the rune that adorned its spine – it looked like a lightning bolt, or sowilo. The rune looked as though it was burned into the leather surface.

"What…" Harry mumbled as he reached out to grab the book.

As his fingers brushed the rune though Harry felt the smallest of tugs on his magic, and the rune lit up.

* * *

><p>"Gerda?"<p>

"Yes, ma'am?"

"You didn't actually - I don't know - throw Harry into the dungeons or something after lunch? I was joking when I blamed him…" Elsa had noticed that Harry hadn't shown up for dinner.

"No ma'am – I took him down to the kitchens and gave him a bit more food to hold him up till dinner. I haven't seen him since." Gerda said.

"He didn't say anything that he might be, upset or something?" Elsa said casually.

"No, ma'am. We just discussed a bit of castle history, as it were." Gerda shifted – she was sure the queen wouldn't mind what she shared, but was still uncomfortable that she had done so without asking first.

Elsa noticed Gerda's self-conscious move, but ignored it.

"OK, then. I might have a wander around and see if I can find him – oh, no it's fine – I don't mind."

"If you're sure, ma'am. He might be out looking around the castle – I left him the map you asked me to."

"Right – well, if I don't find him tonight, would you mind asking him to find me tomorrow?"

"Of course, ma'am."

Elsa didn't really have anything urgent to talk to Harry about; it was more that there was someone new to talk to. Anna was wonderful, and they'd been making great progress repairing their relationship, but there were still awkward moments. They had both spent over a decade entertaining themselves, rather than doing things that could involve two or more.

Elsa headed down to the underground floor of the castle – in her admittedly limited experience of males, she thought the dungeons might be enticing to menfolk. It had been a while (bar her personal visit) since the dungeons had been in use, but they were still functional.

The dungeons were empty, unfortunately, but she did check briefly on her old cell – when she thawed the kingdom, she had come back and patched the wall she had destroyed with ice. It was being repaired, but stones the size of castle bricks didn't come from within Arendelle, and thus were en route.

Elsa moved then to the first floor, and popped her head in the ballroom – again, no Harry. Anna was teaching Kristoff how to dance; for once, Anna was by far the more graceful of the two. She dwelled there for a moment to take in the sight of the cute couple; Elsa really did like Kristoff much more than Hans.

A momentary check of her throne room disqualified it as well, as it did for the hall of paintings. Elsa started for the staircase and paused on the first step.

There was a place on this floor she hadn't checked; somewhere she hadn't visited just about since her parents' death - the library.

Elsa turned around and moved back towards hall of paintings, but headed left before the door. Continuing up the hall, she sighed. Coming here was not easy; there was a reason she hadn't been there in 3 years.

The door opened easily enough, if not quietly; as soon as it was open though, she could tell she had the right place. The room was warm, and lit well by the fire in the middle of the room, as well as one or two of the torches on the wall.

"Harry?" Elsa called, but received no response.

The torches that were lit were all towards the rear of the room, and she followed them back as her heart hammered. He couldn't have found – it. Elsa warily glanced through the shelves as she passed them by, hoping to see Harry there instead of – further back. Unfortunately, the lit torches showed her that Harry wasn't there, so she moved all the way to the last shelves, and peered down towards the corner.

"No…"

A groan of protest slipped out before Elsa could stop it, but she shook herself and moved forward – the past was in the past. She could do this. She walked to the corner, not noticing her trembles.

The one thing she had not expected – not until she had found the lit up library – was that Harry would find this, of all rooms.

* * *

><p>"Not in over five hundred years has someone found this room. None but the royal family."<p>

Harry cursed and dropped the book he was holding, spinning around to see Elsa standing in the doorway. Her face was blank, rather than angry as he might have expected.

"Your Majesty, I apologise! I didn't realise, and the room opened by itself…" Harry trailed off, not sure if his damned curiosity had pulled him into trouble again.

"It's been years since I was here myself. This room has one purpose; magic. Magic is why this room exists."

Elsa appeared to not have heard Harry, looking around the secret room that had apparently been here for centuries. Harry glanced around the room again, and he saw it.

Further in than he had ventured, there was ice covering one of the tables, and frost up the wall next to it. The chair next to it had frozen so cold that it had shattered, leaving nothing but sharp splinters littering the floor. Harry swivelled back to Elsa fearing that she was loosing control over her ice again, but paused when it was clear she hadn't yet.

"Ma'am?"

"The royal family of Arendelle was gifted, you see. Gifted – pah, more like cursed. This _gift_ has been passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, over 20 generations. Of course, it's not that simple – my father, nor his father, nor his father's mother had the gift. They were all single children, and this magic comes in pairs, or not at all. But it always continues. And all the knowledge of magic from these years is in here."

Harry stood there uncertain of what he was supposed to do – Elsa's voice was worryingly flat and her eyes were glazed as she stared at the table that had clearly borne the brunt of her anger some time ago.

"I was five or six when I first discovered magic; I had so much fun, discovering it and learning what I could do. My father and mother, they- they didn't understand my magic. Papa had only ever heard his gran-mama's tales as a little boy, and dismissed them when nothing had ever come of it. Mother had never heard of magic outside of legends; not that she wasn't supportive – they both were – but it was always so foreign."

Harry listened closely – he could tell that whilst Elsa was very uncomfortable, she was going to get this off her chest one way or another. He suddenly noticed how much she was trembling, and guided her into a chair, pulling one up for himself too.

"And, to make things worse – I'm certain the answers could have been found in here!" Elsa sat up, clear eyed and furious for the briefest of moments before curling back up on the chair, wiping away the solitary tear that had escaped her.

"Barely anyone could read this blasted language when my father was a boy, and it was lost before he could learn. All of these books – even some in the main library, on other matters – naught but scribbles to us now!" Elsa sighed before continuing with less fervour.

"We might have found a scholar from another nation; Mama did ask her sister to look in hers, to no avail. My parents feared – for me, and how exploitable I would be as a young magician, so they never let anyone know. Arendelle is hardly a military might, and there are many out there that would take such a path to control someone of my power. The incident with Anna only decided my father that what he was about to do was right; I became a recluse, aided by the closing of the castle and how much I scared myself."

Elsa paused, and shuddered as memories of her younger years overwhelmed her for a moment – years of trying to supress all emotional response meant that they were all too ready to surge forth when triggered, though the healing process had been started.

"For the longest time after my parents were lost at sea I thought it was so appropriate – who better to have a cold and lonely life than me? My powers dealt nothing but ice and pain. I came here a day or two after the funeral, trying to unlock some sort of answer – some way to be rid of this curse – but of course I found nothing. I lost control, and left. I haven't been here since."

There was a long minute of silence before Elsa finally seemed to come back to herself.

"I'm sorry, Harry – I didn't mean to unload all of that onto you." She frowned, before continuing. "How did you get in here, anyway? To my knowledge, only the royal family could activate the door mechanism."

"I tried to read the book that opens the door ma'am; when I tried to grab it from the shelf the door just opened."

"Odd – you're not my cousin, or something, are you?" Elsa joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere after her discourse.

"No, ma'am – I would be much better looking if that were the case."

Elsa pinked ever so slightly, and turned away from Harry, looking at the book he had been holding.

"You know, you can call me Elsa, Harry. I think you know me well enough now, at least. Besides, I've only got 3 people that actually use my name; I'm likely to forget what it sounds like."

Harry smiled, before a thought caught him.

"Ma'- Elsa, you said magic comes in pairs; does Anna have powers too?"


	9. Chapter 8

I own neither Harry Potter nor Frozen - just borrowing and mixing together.

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><p>"<em>Ma- Elsa, you said magic comes in pairs; does Anna have powers too?"<em>

Elsa looked at Harry, startled by the question. She grimaced as she answered.

"I suppose she should, given my powers… But - there was a- an accident. When we were younger. I suppose no-one but me really remembers it, now that my parents are gone." Elsa sighed, before continuing.

"I was eight years old, and Anna was five – she knew that I could make snow, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. One night, I covered the ballroom with snow and ice. It was the first time we built Olaf, you know. But- she was struck by my powers."

"Magic ice - it has a way of spreading through someone's body. Anna was ice-cold in moments. My father rushed us out of the castle in the middle of the night and we travelled into the mountains. It took our fastest horse hours to get us to Valley of the Living Rock – home of the trolls."

"Trolls? Uh, are we talking big, walking mountains of muscle and stupidity?" Harry frowned, not sure why anyone would seek out Mountain trolls. Of course, they might be different in this world – but still, how different could they be?

"What? No, no – these trolls are short, and round – basically living rocks. What trolls have you heard of?" Elsa asked, pausing from her story to try and figure out what Harry was talking about.

"Uh, big ones. Really big, and mean." Harry remembered his first year, and winced. "These ones aren't, then?

"Well… no. The trolls from the Valley are generally kind and wise beings. We took Anna to them; Papa knew that they were the only people with any knowledge of magic left, though theirs is different to mine. Their leader helped fix Anna, but in the process took her memories of magic – perhaps even her capability for magic."

"He also warned me about controlling my powers; it was a harsh warning, but I suppose it did work for over a decade. It was after that when Papa closed the castle gates."

"I'm sorry, Elsa." Harry didn't know what to say, but tried to comfort her anyway. He then started, remembering part of her story.

"Wait – I can read runes! I could help!"

Elsa froze on her chair, before carefully looking at Harry.

"You can read this?" Her voice had an odd tone of disbelief to it, as if daring Harry to answer her wrongly.

"Aye, I can. I learnt it many years ago, but I can read it slowly. I was reading when you found me." Harry blushed, remembering that he had been there without permission.

"Could - could you teach me?" Elsa's voice was coloured with hope; even having learnt to control the ice, her families story – her heritage – was buried in these books.

Harry smiled; despite the fact that he couldn't admit it to himself, he was beginning to like the Queen (he was much too old to have a 'crush'). He certainly didn't mind the idea of spending time with Elsa.

"Of course I can! It might take me a bit to remember it all, but earlier I was getting the gist of what it said."

"Thank you!" Elsa flew off her chair and hugged Harry before she could catch herself. Harry hesitated, but hugged her back gently.

* * *

><p>Harry and Elsa had spent several hours hidden away in the library, trying to scratch the surface of what was concealed within the books there. Learning runes wasn't as hard as it might have been – when Harry had learnt to read Elder Futhark, it was in relation to Old Norse. Here though it appeared to be used instead for writing down the spoken language, instead of being in another language as well.<p>

When Harry had first arrived to this world, he wondered at how he could understand everyone, and they him – it seemed unlikely that the alternate universe used modern Queen's English. It was one of the many questions he had never found an answer to.

A delicate yawn broke the quiet, startling Harry out of the book he was

"Shush, you. I'm tired!" Elsa berated Harry as he tried to hold back a chuckle.

"It is late, I guess. When did you come and find me?"

"Some time after sundown… and we've been here for ages!"

"Yeah… I forgot about the time." Harry shrugged and ran a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Well, I –"

"I might –" Harry and Elsa both started, and stopped, looking at each other.

"You first." Harry said.

"I should probably go – it's late."

"Yeah…" Harry said, looking down at his hands. He looked up, surprised as Elsa touched his arm.

"Thank you, Harry," Elsa said warmly, "I know you don't know me that well – but thank you. This means a lot to me."

Looking up, Harry nodded – he wasn't sure he could trust himself to string a coherent and suave sentence together. Weariness combined with the first real interest in a girl for years would doubtless have him say something he'd regret.

"Perhaps you could accompany me so far as my room?" Elsa offered, sharing a small smile with Harry – as if she knew something he didn't. "I'm sure the guards will keep the castle safe… but you never know."

"Sure, Elsa. Let me just-" Harry stretched, letting off a string of 'cracks!' as his back realigned. Tired he may be, but he wasn't silly enough to turn down Elsa's request. He relaxed and stood up, offering her his arm.

"May I, Your Majesty?"

"Of course." Elsa's small smile bloomed, confirming for Harry that he'd done the right thing.

It was a short walk out of the hidden library room, and from there to the hall. It took Elsa bare moments to cool the lit torches enough to extinguish them, rather than leaving them to burn.

* * *

><p>The last few hours seemed to pass in a haze – it was a brand new experience for Elsa. Until now, Anna had been the only person that she had really told anything about her powers – but when Elsa had found Harry there, in that secret room – everything just seemed to pour out. Harry had sat there, listening. Letting it out was a strange catharsis; she felt numb as memories she had locked away surged back, but lighter as they lost their edge.<p>

Then he had dropped that bombshell on her; Harry could read the runes that had frustrated her for years on end! It sounded almost too good to be true. It hadn't taken him long to prove it, though – Harry had taken a piece of paper and translated a page out of a book for her. Like he had said, it didn't happen quickly but she could tell he was getting quicker as the memories came back to him.

During the hours that followed Harry had started teaching her how to read the runes – he had also written out the direct translations of each character. They had spent those hours huddled together over the ancient books, slowly rediscovering the hidden history of Arendelle's royal line. They had yet to find anything relating to her ice powers, but it was clear that magic had permeated her ancestor's lives in a way that she recognized.

It was strange having someone so receptive to her magic; most of her life, those that had discovered it had instantly associated it with danger, and evil. Harry, on the other, seemed to be filled with a constant sense of wonder and deep interest. It had been years since anyone had regarded her like that – probably Anna, come to think of it, from before… it.

A yawn escaping broke her train of thought, prompting a chuckle from Harry. She tried to look stern as she told him off, but the smile gracing her face told another story.

Harry had an unique smile, Elsa thought – it was part rakish, part demure, and suited him wonderfully. He had moments when he seemed so unsure of how to behave around her, and others where he forgot that attitude entirely! It was confusing, how he moved from one extreme to the other – fortunately for her, Harry seemed to be relaxing around her in general.

On the whole, Arendelle was fairly laid back, and that generally extended to their treatment of royalty (or so it seemed – it had only been a couple weeks) – polite and respectful, but not overly formal and reserved. Perhaps Harry was just unused to… her?

"Thank you, Harry," Elsa smiled, trying to communicate just how much his help meant to her, "I know you don't know me that well – but thank you. This means a lot to me."

Harry nodded to her, looking as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words – the light pink that dusted his cheeks instead was adorable, but gave Elsa a sudden flash of insight into what might be behind Harry's behaviour…

"Perhaps you could accompany me so far as my room?" Elsa said, mentally crossing her fingers – maybe! "I'm sure the guards will keep the castle safe… but you never know."

"Sure, Elsa. Let me just –" Harry stood, stretching his back.

"May I, Your Majesty?"

"Of course." Elsa's unconscious smile grew as she took the offered arm, letting Harry lead her out of the library.

She barely even noticed the effort it took to snuff the torches as they left.

* * *

><p>Harry woke up the next morning to hurried knocking on his door, as well as someone calling his name.<p>

"Harry! Are you up?! Wake up!"

Harry groaned and rolled over, hoping that if he ignored the voice for long enough, the noise would stop.

It didn't.

"Harry! Get up! Ivar wants you out!" Leif was starting to sound desperate. "Something's happened!"

"Hang on, hang on…" Harry grumbled, rolling out of bed reluctantly. He stumbled to the door, not bothering to throw on a shirt.

"What's wrong? It's barely daylight!" Harry wasn't actually sure what time it was, but it certainly felt like he'd barely slept.

"-What? It's like 10 in the morning!" Leif protested, before rushing on, "Never mind – Ivar sent me to get you. Something's happened to the Princess, and the Queen's freaking out, and-"

"What?! No - just give me a moment to dress." Harry turned around and started grabbing clothes, ignoring the open door and Leif.

It only took a couple minutes to find enough clothing to wear, another to put it all on and Harry was moving back towards the hall. He wasn't quite in full regalia, but looked the part of a guard. The sword strapped to his waist certainly helped that impression.

"Ivar is with the Queen and Princess, up on their floor." Leif said, continuing when Harry looked at him in askance. "I don't know much, but Kristoff and Gerda went looking for Anna when she didn't show for breakfast. Gerda came back panicked, looking for Kai and Elsa."

"Nothing on what actually happened?" Harry enquired as they quickly climbed the stairs.

"No, but Kai sent someone to prepare horses, and get Kristoff's reindeer." Leif was full of nervous energy, dancing from side to side as they walked.

"Wha- you know what, I won't even ask. Is this the room?" Harry asked as they approached a door slightly ajar.

"Yes, this is it. Uh… do you want me to stay out here, or do something?"

Harry paused, considering the question – it was an unusually insightful thought from a young man.

"Yes. Go to the kitchens; ask them to prepare a travel pack for several people. If horses are being prepared, someone is travelling. Also, ask around the castle and get some light supplies to go as well – blankets, flint, water flasks, etc. Once you've done that, put the packs on the horses being prepared."

Harry thought for a moment, and nodded sharply at Leif. The young guard scampered to do as asked. Harry turned to the door and knocked.

"Come in." Ivar's voice emanated from inside the room.

Harry pushed in, gazing around the room and taking as much in as he could. Elsa, Kai and Ivar were standing together in a corner, talking urgently. Kristoff, Gerda and Olaf were all standing by the bed, which contained Anna.

Anna looked terrible – her normally bright eyes looked tired and haunted, sunk into her face. She looked weak and sick, wrapped up in an enormous number of blankets. Oddly enough, her hair had changed colour somewhat – white, as if it was frosted overnight. Harry's entrance barely garnered a glance, though he could see her trying to acknowledge him.

"Your-" Harry started, before being interrupted.

"Enough, Harry. There's been – an issue." Elsa said, looking harried and impatient, though not at him. Her late night was obvious in the deep circles under her eyes, undoubtedly exacerbated by this morning's trouble.

"Anna's become sick – I don't know what you heard about the Great Freeze, but something like this happened to her during it."

"You mean exactly like this!" Kristoff interrupted, before restraining himself. "Sorry, that was out of line. I'm just worried…"

"We all are – we just need to keep tempers in check." Kai spoke up – it sounded like he had been peace keeping for some time. He seemed unaffected by the glares he received from the pair, and continued.

"Anna's condition was caused last time by an incident involving Elsa's powers – she was thought to be cured, but it may be that it has come back."

"There was also the time this happened when we were kids." Elsa said, looking at Harry.

"When your father took you to see the trolls?" Elsa nodded.

"Kristoff also took Anna to the trolls when this happened a few weeks ago, and though they couldn't help her, they knew what to do. We think – that is, Kristoff – that Anna should be brought to them again." Elsa looked conflicted. "I want Anna to get better, so she's going."

"…What's the issue then?"

"I'm going with them this time." Elsa said, looking Harry in the eye and daring him to contradict her.

"Oh." That was why he was brought up before they left. Kai and Ivar undoubtedly wanted him to side with them and argue against Elsa leaving. Elsa and Kristoff, on the other hand, looked ready to steamroll Harry if he sided against them. Gerda was just standing there, alternatively twisting her hands in anxiety and fussing over Anna.

"Kai, Ivar – it's clear that Anna is in a terrible condition, and if the trolls are the best bet for helping her, she should be on her way." Harry paused, choosing his words carefully, "Whilst I think Elsa staying would be better, there's no way we can force her, and it will work out better if she goes prepared."

Elsa's glare lessened greatly after Harry finished, and Kristoff looked somewhat relieved. Ivar and Kai both frowned, but didn't argue any further.

"How were you planning on taking Anna? A carriage will take much too long to get there…"

"I can carry her – I did on the way here last time." Kristoff said, and started gathering Anna up in the blankets.

"Whoa – not yet! Kristoff, head back to your room, gather what you might need first. You too, Elsa. Travelling clothes. Leif is already getting supplies ready, he'll have them on the horses by the time you leave." Harry reeled off, the role of leader seeming to slip back instinctively.

Kai nodded, seeing the sense in Harry's words.

"If I may, I suggest you go too, Harry. Having a guard go along would ease my concerns greatly – and I doubt the journey is short. Kristoff will need time to rest."

"Agreed." Elsa nodded, before leaving the room with Kristoff.

"Gerda? While I go and get my stuff, can you gather some things for Anna? I'll bring a really warm blanket that I've got. Ivar – my horse is at the garrison in town. If he could be brought up to the castle?"

Harry left, rushing back to his room. Being mostly packed from the move (was that only yesterday?) meant that it didn't take long for him to ready a bag.

All over the castle, urgent preparations were being made.

* * *

><p>Apologies for the long wait to get this chapter out - life has its ways of interfering. Also, the last part of this chapter kept giving me issues - this is the version I was happiest with.<p> 


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